The Marine Biologist Issue 34

ISSUE 34 APRIL 2025
ISSN 2052-5273
THE MAGAZINE OF THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL COMMUNITY
LIFE
&DEATH
IN THE
SLOW
LANE

2
i n s i d e
THE MAGAZINE OF THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL COMMUNITY
LIFE
&DEATH
IN THE
ISSUE 34 APRIL 2025
SLOW
LANE
Whale shark (Rhincodon typus).
© Justin Bumpstead.
Back cover
A West Indian manatee
(Trichechus manatus).
© iStock/33karen33.
ISSN 2052-5273
ON THE COVER:
contents
REGULAR
03 EDITORIAL
04 IN BRIEF
AN OCEAN OF
SCIENCE
06 A LIFE (AND DEATH)
IN THE SLOW LANE
Climate shifts are putting
whale sharks at greater risk
of ship strikes.
10 TICO, THE
MEANDERING MANATEE
Rescued, rehabilitated,
and released, Tico set off
on an extraordinary
journey.
10
13 THE ONE THAT GOT
AWAY: CLOSING THE NET
ON THE HABITAT NEEDS
OF TINY FISH
An innovative project reveals
the lives of juvenile fish.
POLICY
17 THE COSTA RICA
THERMAL DOME
A model for high seas
protection?
FEATURES
20 ARE VIBRANT BLUE
ECONOMIES THE FUTURE
FOR SMALL ISLAND
DEVELOPING STATES?
Realizing the monetary value
of marine natural assets.
23 THE IMPORTANCE
OF BLUE CARBON IN
THE MANAGEMENT OF
COASTAL RESERVES
The RSPB’s estates hold
significant amounts of blue
carbon.
26 NOT A TRUE CRAB—
BUT A TRUE SURVIVOR
Respecting the extraordinary
horseshoe crab.
28 AN OCEAN-FRIENDLY
NATIONAL CURRICULUM
Innovating to get ocean
literacy into mainstream
education.
04
23
The Marine Biologist is the Membership
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The Marine Biological Association
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Editor
Guy Baker
editor@mba.ac.uk
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Editorial Board
Guy Baker, Eliane Bastos, Matthew Bunce,
Sophie Stafford.
Membership
Alex Street
membership@mba.ac.uk
+44 (0) 1752 426493
www.mba.ac.uk/our-membership
ISSN: 2052-5273
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April 2025
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l e t t e r f r o m t h e e d i t o r 3
TOMATOES ON
THE BEACH
THE VOICE OF
MARINE BIOLOGY
32 THE BIG ROCK POOL
CHALLENGE: NATIONAL
BIOBLITZ
33 MEET THE MEMBERS
34 IS A PLACEMENT YEAR
FOR YOU?
The pros and cons for marine
biology students.
36 THE MARINE
BIOLOGIST EDITORIAL
BOARD
37 READERS’ SURVEY
Shaping the future of your
magazine.
38 REVIEWS
26
Dynamic
ocean
management
approaches
will test
existing legal
frameworks.
Welcome to the April edition of The Marine Biologist.
At the top of most lists of pressing ocean issues
is climate change: from redistribution of species to
changes in ocean circulation and ocean acidification,
it seems everywhere you look the effects of a warming ocean
can be found.
In our cover story, MBA-led research reveals how climate
change is driving endangered whale sharks into areas more
heavily traversed by shipping. Whales are also vulnerable to
ship strikes, as highlighted in our article on protecting a shifting
oceanic feature (page 17). Dynamic ocean management
approaches — clearly needed to protect biodiversity wherever it
roams — will test existing legal frameworks.
Let us turn to a captivating story that first appeared in the
Journal of the Marine Biological Association. As a tiny orphan,
Tico the manatee was rescued on a Brazilian beach by the NGO
Aquasis. Released 8 years later, he took off into the open ocean,
forcing the monitoring team to take a parallel journey on planes,
boats, and in cars. Meet the wayward sirenian on page 10!
Having a basic understanding of the earth system gives
context to science and other subjects taught in schools and
colours our view of the natural world throughout our lives. This
is why getting ocean literacy into the UK national curriculum
is so important. Dr Ceri Lewis and Jamie Buchanan-Dunlop
have been working with schools and on the development of
the national curriculum, to help educators incorporate ocean
education into their teaching. Find out more on page 28.
On a recent holiday to Spain, I saw tomatoes and oranges
on the beach washed from farms during intense rainstorms; a
colourful reminder that what we produce on land ends up in
the sea. Road traffic generates a toxic mix of fluids and particles
which is washed downstream every time it rains into rivers
and coastal waters. CIWEM and Stormwater Shepherds have
produced a report that shines a spotlight on this long-neglected
problem with recommendations for the relevant agencies and,
notably, the introduction of levies on producers of tyres, fuel oils,
and brake pads. 1
We also find out how much blue carbon is stored in UK marine
habitats, learn how valuing the marine environment could
finance island states, and dive into a groundbreaking project on
the lives of juvenile fish.
According to a career feature in Nature biotechnology, writing
is the most essential activity of a scientist. 2 While not everyone
will agree, I was cheered to read this and include a link (below)
for early career researchers tackling a thesis or research paper.
Guy Baker, EDITOR
editor@mba.ac.uk
38
1. www.stormwatershepherds.org.uk/2024/05/08/bold-new-report-on-pollutionfrom-highway-runoff-to-raise-awareness-of-the-problem-and-possible-solutions/
2. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40097672/
April 2025

4
i n b r i e f
OLD AND ON THE SHELF
Megaberg A23a. © Laura Taylor.
In March, the oldest and largest iceberg in the world,
named—rather disappointingly for such a magnificent body—
A23a, grounded on the continental shelf 70 km from South
Georgia in the South Atlantic. The 3,500 km² ‘megaberg’ is
twice the size of Greater London and has the potential to
affect the local marine ecosystem.
A23a first calved from Antarctica’s Filchner Ice Shelf in
1986, before grounding in the Weddell Sea. In 2020, it began
travelling North. The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) research
ship, the Sir David Attenborough, sampled along two sides of
the berg in 2023 as part of the BIPOLE research programme
which investigates how biogeochemical processes drive the
global carbon cycle and impact polar ecosystems.
Now A23a has grounded, what are the implications for the
South Georgia ecosystem? BAS Scientist, Dr Andrew Meijers
commented, ‘Icebergs of this size are relatively rare’, which
makes predicting the iceberg’s fate ‘practically impossible’.
A23a could disrupt penguin and seal populations’ access to
feeding sites. Alternatively, its melting could fertilize the upper
ocean, boosting productivity and local predator populations.
Release of ‘megabergs’ from the Antarctic ice shelf is a
natural process; however, climate change can increase the
frequency of these events. Further in situ observations and
modelled predictions are essential to understand how these
ice giants could impact future regional ecosystems and
global oceans.
Stephanie Day
Source: www.bas.ac.uk/media-post/worlds-largest-iceberg-grounds-nearsub-antarctic-island-of-south-georgia/
NIX THE NURDLES
Plastic pellet spills are pervasive and frequent in the
supply chain, with up to 184,000 tonnes of pellets
entering the environment each year.
Last December, the European Council adopted its
general approach on the proposal for a regulation
on plastic pellet spills. While improving on the past,
campaigners say, the approach doesn’t go far enough.
Campaigners and NGOs welcomed: the regulation’s
greater scope in defining plastic pellets and including
companies that clean out plastic pellet containers; the
inclusion of the IMO’s recommendations on transporting
pellets at sea; the inclusion of companies handling over
1,000 tonnes of pellets per year, and a commitment to a
regular review mechanism to maintain effectiveness.
However, a number of weaknesses were highlighted
that undermine the European Council’s own target to
reduce losses by 74 per cent. These include: measures
not being applied to all operators (e.g. exemptions
from mandatory certification, audits, and staff training
for businesses that handle more than 1,000 tonnes of
pellets a year); exclusion on recording or reporting
spills for shippers and maritime spills, and unjustified
delays in the regulations coming into force. Operators
of all sizes are prone to leaking pellets. Exemptions on
recording and reporting spills squander opportunities
Marine litter with nurdles on a beach in Sri Lanka. © Soeren Funk / Ocean
Image Bank.
to learn and improve processes and hinder tracking of
progress toward targets.
Properly designed and enforced regulations could stem
the needless leakage of plastic into the environment.
Sources: www.surfrider.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/CP_Pellets_
General_Approach_European_Council_2024_12_17_surfrider_
foundation.pdf
rethinkplasticalliance.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/EU-regulationon-plastic-pellet-loss-needs-mandatory-requirements.pdf
April 2025
www.mba.ac.uk

i n b r i e f 5
Snakelocks anemone (Anemonia viridis) with tentacles oriented towards
the sun. © MBA.
SUN SEEKING
ANEMONE
Researchers at the Marine Biological Association have
discovered that the snakelocks anemone (Anemonia
viridis), exhibits a remarkable plant-like behaviour—
solar tracking.
Just as sunflowers tilt their heads towards the sun, these
anemones, commonly found in the Eastern Atlantic and
Mediterranean, orient their tentacles towards sunlight
throughout the day: a phenomenon known as heliotropism.
Field studies and lab experiments confirmed that A.
viridis anemones consistently track the sun under natural
conditions. This movement aligns with peak sunlight hours,
maximizing energy intake for their symbiotic microalgae,
which perform photosynthesis inside the anemones’
tissues. When the anemones lost their symbiotic algae (a
process known as bleaching) or when photosynthesis was
chemically blocked, they no longer responded to light. The
study found that this heliotropic behaviour is directly linked
to the algae’s ability to produce oxygen.
This discovery highlights a fascinating evolutionary
parallel between marine and terrestrial life. While plants
developed heliotropism to optimize light capture, A. viridis
demonstrates a similar strategy to regulate solar exposure
and enhance energy production. The findings provide new
insights into how symbiotic relationships shape animal
behaviour and may help scientists understand how marine
organisms adapt to environmental changes.
Tanya Whipps
Source: Lintnerova, E., Shaw, C., Keys, M., Brownlee, C. and
Modepalli, V., 2025. Plant-like heliotropism in a photosymbiotic
animal. Journal of Experimental Biology, 228 (3).
www.mba.ac.uk
DRIVING DOWN
POLLUTION?
A
recent report highlights a serious but neglected environmental
threat—pollution from road runoff. Every rainfall washes a toxic
mix of hydrocarbons such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons
(PAHs), heavy metals, and microplastics from roads into rivers and seas,
contributing in the UK to 18 per cent of water quality failures. A white
paper by Keyline Civils Specialist warns that road runoff pollution is both
acute and chronic. After dry spells, heavy rain flushes built-up toxins into
waterways, depleting oxygen and harming aquatic life. Meanwhile, a
continuous trickle of contaminants leads to bioaccumulation in marine
organisms, with effects that can include reproductive issues and longterm
water quality damage. This pollution not only threatens freshwater
and coastal ecosystems, but also raises drinking water treatment costs.
The Environment Agency is responsible for monitoring pollution in
England, but does not monitor road runoff, and regulations remain
fragmented across multiple authorities. Experts are urging action,
including improved monitoring and nature-based drainage solutions
to filter pollutants before they reach rivers.
‘Road runoff has flown under the radar for too long,’ says
Keyline’s technical director George Woollard. ‘But with awareness
growing, it’s time for industry and policymakers to step up and
tackle this hidden crisis before it’s too late.’
Tanya Whipps
Sources: www.whitepaperkeyline.co.uk/
www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/road-runoff-pollution-causing-catastrophicdamage-to-uks-waterways-09-07-2024/
Wilson, P. J. 1999. Pollution from highway runoff: the Highways Agency
approach. Highways Agency https://www.soci.org/-/media/files/lecture-series/
pb69.ashx
CUTTLEFISH INK:
PEPPER SPRAY FOR
SHARKS?
Sharks owe their smelling superpower to highly sensitive
olfactory receptors, which detect chemical signals in the
environment, for example the blood of an injured seal.
Scientists at University College Dublin have studied how
common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) exploit sharks’ olfactory
sensitivity by using melanin-rich ink to overwhelm the predator
when being hunted. The binding strength of various chemicals
to 3D models of the olfactory receptors of a cloudy catshark
(Scyliorhinus torazame) and a great white shark (Carcharodon
carcharias) were tested, with high binding affinity meaning
that the shark would be more sensitive to the presence of the
chemical. Melanin and taurine, both major components of
cuttlefish ink, were shown to bind to receptors as strongly as
the smell of blood. The research could lead to alternative shark
deterrent solutions that are less harmful than current methods
such as gill nets. Natural repellants could also help shark
conservation where activities pose a threat to sharks.
Studies like this provide scientists with a deeper
understanding of predator-prey interactions and are key to
coexisting with and protecting marine life.
Harita Ravuru
Sources: www.popsci.com/environment/shark-attacks-cuttlefish-ink/
academic.oup.com/g3journal/article/15/3/
jkaf001/7945770?login=false#508542396
April 2025

6
a n o c e a n o f s c i e n c e
LIFE
&DEATH
IN THE SLOW LANE
Ship strikes have emerged as a significant
cause of death for the already threatened
whale shark. Could coordinated action and
new technology avoid a riskier future? By
Freya Womersley.
April 2025
www.mba.ac.uk

7
a n o c e a n o f s c i e n c e 7
Figure 2. The lobster fishing port of Rockport in
Massachusetts.
© William Reagan, iStock.
Figure 1. Whale shark slowly feeding at the surface. Freya Womersley © MBA.
Sometimes revered, often feared, sharks are arguably
one of the most maligned creatures on the planet.
The most well known are the large, sharp-toothed
apex predators that are sensationalized in the media.
But there are over 500 species of shark that inhabit almost
every niche in the ocean, from shallow tropical reefs to deep,
freezing Arctic waters and even river systems. Having been
around longer even than trees, sharks have adapted to their
surroundings over hundreds of millions of years. Surviving
ice ages, asteroid strikes, and heatwaves, these animals have
weathered five mass extinction events. But today, sharks face
a suite of new, unprecedented threats.
Since the dawn of industrialized fishing in the 1970s, shark
populations have halved, and oceanic sharks and rays—those that
roam the vast open ocean—have declined in abundance by over
70 per cent. Catches peaked in the early 2000s, with estimates
of up to ~270 million individuals landed per year before
declining again owing to overfishing. As a result of this relentless
depletion, the risk of global extinction now threatens threequarters
of oceanic shark species. Developing tools to explore
how these animals behave and move throughout the ocean is
one of the ways in which we can help combat these declines,
by providing evidence for adaptive conservation solutions, and
that’s the focus of our work in the Sims Lab at the MBA.
The number of whale sharks—the largest fish on Earth—have
dropped by an estimated 50 per cent in the last 75 years.
They were heavily fished in the 1980s and 1990s for their
meat, fins and liver oil, but since 2003 have been protected
by international trade bans, and their declining population
led in 2016 to their Endangered status on the International
Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List. Reaching
enormous sizes, close to 20 metres in length and weighing
in the region of 15 tonnes, adults have few natural predators,
making the cause of their continued decline unclear. They
play a hugely important role in our oceans by transporting
nutrients, providing shelter to smaller fish, and regulating prey,
and support a multi-million-pound tourism industry which
generates revenue for some of the lowest-income countries in
the world. This makes understanding the reasons behind whale
shark declines central to meeting worldwide biodiversity and
conservation targets.
Gathering the evidence
For the last 5 years, the Sims Lab has studied the global spatial
ecology of whale sharks. By exploring how they interact with
humans and their environment, we aim to uncover the reasons
behind falling populations and offer solutions to mitigate
declines. When we began to work on this species, several
factors pointed to large ship collisions being a potentially
hidden source of mortality. We even found records from the
1920s in the MBA library that told of old steamer ships striking
these ‘sluggish leviathans’ as they fed slowly at the water’s
surface. Based on the disparate but compelling evidence, we
set out to explore this issue and in 2019 brought together an
international team of more than 60 scientists who were part
of the MBA’s Global Shark Movement Project. Through this
collaboration we revealed that over 90 per cent of the horizontal
space occupied by whale sharks and nearly 50 per cent of their
depth use overlapped with the ubiquitous activities of global
shipping (Fig. 2). This was far more than we had anticipated.
We went on to find that almost one-quarter of the satellite tags
that we attached to sharks to track their movements stopped
transmitting in busy shipping lanes, most likely due to whale
sharks being lethally struck and quietly sinking to the ocean
floor without a trace. Some of our depth-sensing tags on whale
sharks even recorded these final, slow descents.
Our models had begun to shed light on a potentially
considerable source of mortality for this species, which helped
www.mba.ac.uk
April 2025

8
a n o c e a n o f s c i e n c e
Figure 2 (above). Whale shark with a satellite tag feeding close to
container and tanker ships. Freya Womersley © MBA.
prompt a draft resolution on limiting vessel strikes to marine
megafauna with a focus on whale sharks. This was presented
at a the UN’s Convention on the Conservation of Migratory
Species of Wild Animals COP14 in early 2024, where a series
of collision mitigation recommendations were put forward,
including slowing ship-travelling speeds and re-routing ships
around key sites. One year on from this meeting, it is now
up to individual governments to act. But when working with
a highly mobile animal like the whale shark that can travel
tens of thousands of kilometres a year, securing protection in
one country’s waters may not be enough. This issue requires
global coordination, and it also requires that we look to the
future. As climate change reshuffles the spaces used by life on
Earth, marine management must also be responsive to animal
redistributions. This means that countries which currently do
not have large numbers of whale sharks moving through or
aggregating in their waters still need to be ready to adapt and
protect should this change in future; an idea that led us to the
next set of questions for these gentle giants.
Adapting management to shifting conditions
If whale sharks start to relocate due to changes in the
environmental conditions on which they rely, what might this
mean for their overlap with shipping activity and the resultant
risk of being struck and killed? Will shifting oceanographic
conditions force the species into new and more dangerous
areas? To answer these questions, our international team,
spearheaded by the Sims Lab, came together once again. Our
modelling revealed that climate change is expected to put
whale sharks in even greater danger, as their preferred habitats
redistribute into new, heavily ship-trafficked areas. We uncovered
new countries that may be able to support the species in
future, such as US waters in the Pacific in the region of the
California bight, Japanese waters in the eastern China Sea and
the Atlantic waters of many West African countries. We found
that by 2100, whale shark habitat shifts and change in overlap
with shipping activity will be more extreme if we continue to
rely heavily on fossil fuels, compared to what will happen if we
follow a sustainable development scenario, suggesting that
even complex, multi-factor impacts of climate change can be
somewhat alleviated by our collective actions. These insights
demonstrate that we should build adaptive mechanisms into
marine protection strategies for highly mobile animals now, so
that we can future-proof in an ever-changing ocean.
Through this work, it became clear that changes in specific
conditions like sea-surface temperature and the amount and
distribution of prey were key drivers for the location and
Figure 3 (above). Satellite tags are used to help reveal whale shark
movements, underpinning modelling carried out at the MBA's Sims
Lab. © MBA.
timing of suitable whale shark habitats across the world. But
our models were global, and in order to provide the strongest
evidence for protections, next we needed to tap back into
individual level responses. Specifically, we wanted to know
how interacting stressors could drive behaviour—down to the
second-by-second decisions that an animal makes—such that
mechanisms underpinning wildlife-human risk relationships
can be built into modelling and management frameworks.
For this, we were particularly interested in dissolved
oxygen, which has been a key area of focus for the lab
during the European Research Council advanced grant
Ocean Deoxyfish. As water breathers, whale sharks need
dissolved oxygen in the water to continuously flow over their
April 2025
www.mba.ac.uk

a n o c e a n o f s c i e n c e 9
Figure 5 (above). Whale shark with oxygen-sensing tag attached.
Freya Womersley © MBA.
Figure 4 (left). Researchers need to keep up with the sharks to get
close enough to position tags correctly. Freya Womersley
© MBA.
As climate change reshuffles
the spaces used by life on
Earth, marine management
must also be responsive to
animal redistributions
gills for respiration, and this oxygen is not readily available
in all areas of the ocean. In oxygen minimum zones (OMZs),
for instance—which form naturally along the eastern edges
of the Atlantic and Pacific and in the northern Indian Ocean—
oxygen levels can drop well below the aerobic needs
of many species. Our previous work on higher-oxygendemand
predators like the world’s fastest shark, the shortfin
mako, show that during movements over OMZs, these
animals are compressed into the shallows where oxygen
concentrations are higher. But worryingly, when low oxygen
at depth is coupled with acute climate events like marine
heatwaves at the surface (which can take temperatures
beyond their upper limits), these sharks can get caught in an
even smaller layer of vertical habitable space, which in the
worst cases can lead to direct stress-induced mortality. For
whale sharks, it is not yet known how they move throughout
these low-oxygen waters, and climate models predict that
OMZs will expand and shoal further in future. It is therefore
imperative that we explore these dynamics in the context of
damaging activities like shipping, since the risk of ship strike
is greater when sharks spend more time in surface waters.
New technology, new insights
Exploring these types of animal responses in remote
environments is not easy, so we needed to develop and deploy
the most cutting-edge technology. Working closely with our
collaborators at the Universidade do Porto in Portugal, we
built direct oxygen-sensing tags and designed a new clamp
mechanism to attach them onto the dorsal fin of whale sharks.
Given its proximity to the Pacific OMZ, we selected La Paz Bay in
Mexico—which lies on the north-western coast of the southern
part of Baja California—as our study site and headed out in
December 2024 to work with our longstanding local research
collaborators at Whale Shark Mexico. This bay sees hundreds
of whale sharks gather each year to feed on extremely high
densities of their zooplankton prey, which are seasonally driven
into the region by strong winds. Getting in the water with large
animals is a particularly challenging type of fieldwork. Strong
winds and actively feeding sharks made it harder to get out
into the bay, keep up with the sharks, and attach the device.
Nevertheless, we were able to deploy five of our state-of-the-art
oxygen sensing tags and a suite of other longer-term tags as
well (Figs. 4 and 5). Using these, we can track how whale sharks
use the bay, move through low-oxygen waters, and migrate
across the Pacific OMZ and wider basin. The data is already
shedding new light on our ideas of how whale sharks interact
with oxygen at depth. We are excited to see how and where the
sharks move over the coming months and what new insights
may be revealed for this fascinating species in need of both our
science and conservation efforts. l
• Dr Freya Womersley (frewom@mba.ac.uk), Postdoctoral Research Scientist
at the MBA in the Ocean Predator Movement Ecology and Conservation group
(www.mba.ac.uk/movement-ecology-sims/).
Instagram: @freyawomersley
Global Shark Movement Project (www.globalsharkmovement.org/).
Funded by the European Research Council (cordis.europa.eu/project/
id/883583).
www.mba.ac.uk
April 2025

TICO
THE
MEANDERING
MANATEE
The longest documented journey made by a West
Indian manatee. By Camila Carvalho de Carvalho.
This is the story of Tico the manatee. Before we dive
into the details of his great adventure, let’s first go
back to 1994. That year, a group of students from
Ceará, Brazil, founded Aquasis, an NGO dedicated
to studying aquatic mammals. Strandings of manatee calves
have increased over time along Brazil’s semi-arid coast—in
2024 alone, six incidents were recorded in Ceará. Aquasis
therefore began rescuing stranded manatee calves and
specializing in their rehabilitation.
Tico was one of the lucky manatees rescued in 2014, thanks
to a report from one of the NGO’s collaborators. He was found
stranded near another newborn manatee on Agulhas Beach,
Fortim, Ceará. Genetic studies later confirmed that this other
manatee was his twin brother, Teco (Figure 1). Their names
were inspired by the Portuguese names of the chipmunks in
the Disney cartoon Chip ‘n’ Dale.
The twins were transported to the Aquasis Marine Mammal
Rehabilitation Centre (MMRC), where they remained in
rehabilitation.
In 2019, Aquasis built a new floating enclosure in a marine
environment to help manatees adapt to ocean conditions
before their release—the ultimate goal of rehabilitation. The
Brazilian manatee population is estimated to be around 1,000
individuals, making the release of rescued calves essential for
the species' conservation.
Figure 1. Tico and his brother, Teco, during
rehabilitation. © AQUASIS
So, in December 2020, at the age of 7 years and 2 months, Tico
was moved to this enclosure, where he stayed for 18 months.
Releasing Tico
Tico was released into the wild on Peroba Beach, Icapuí, on 6
July, 2022. For the first few days after his release, Tico stayed
in the Icapuí region, where food resources are abundant and a
resident manatee population exists. However, he soon began
moving westward, following Ceará’s coastal currents, which
are primarily driven by wind patterns.
The tracking equipment consists of a belt attached near the
animal’s paddle, connected by a tether to a buoyant radio tag
(Fig. 2). The tether and tag can detach as a safety measure to
prevent entanglement.
April 2025
www.mba.ac.uk

a n o c e a n o f s c i e n c e 11
The Brazilian manatee
population is estimated to
be around 1,000 individuals,
making the release of
rescued calves essential for
the species' conservation
Figure 2. Tracking equipment (belt, tether, and radio tag) attached
to the tail of a manatee. © Mikael Holanda.
in different cities in search of a suitable vessel. Their journey
spanned five Brazilian states, covering an impressive 2,000
kilometres. When they reached the land border between Pará
and Amapá—an area with no road access—part of the team
flew to Amapá.
At this point, uncertainty began to set in. Had Tico’s
tracking device detached and drifted away, or was he truly
in that region? Despite the doubts, the coordinates strongly
suggested the latter.
About 10 days after his release, Tico ventured offshore,
moving away from the coast. The monitoring team planned
a boat trip, but before they could reach him, he returned on
his own. The next day, Tico became trapped in a fishing corral
and was rescued with the help of local fishers. Fortunately, he
was in good condition and was promptly released again.
Tico resumed his westward movement and soon started
heading into deeper waters, this time moving further and
further from the coast and beyond the edge of the continental
shelf. Monitoring in this region requires additional safety
measures, and, even with the Navy’s support, the team
struggled to find vessels capable of travelling so far offshore.
Determined to track the manatee, a team of six people in
two cars followed his movements by land, stopping at ports
Finding Tico
The team contacted the Tactical Air Group of Amapá, which
agreed to assist in the mission. The plan was to conduct
an aerial survey over the sea near Oiapoque, Brazil’s
northernmost point. The team flew in a small plane from
Macapá to Oiapoque, but upon arrival, they realized the
survey would not be possible. The projections had suggested
Tico would pass closer to the coast, but instead, he had
moved farther offshore, following the vortices of the North
Brazil Current (Fig. 3b). The aircraft lacked the fuel capacity
to complete the flight, so the team had to return without
confirming whether Tico was in the area.
In the following days, Tico crossed Brazil’s border into
French Guiana. He continued travelling westward, and our
analysis showed that his speed closely matched that of the
North Brazil Current. His trajectory also followed the current’s
vortices, forming curves along the way (Fig. 3c).
By the end of August, the coordinates indicated he
was approaching the island of Tobago. Researchers from
the region were contacted and assisted in the search.
They contacted local fishers, who checked the reported
coordinates and spotted Tico swimming towards the coast.
He stayed near the island for a few days and was seen by the
local population at the Port of Scarborough (Fig. 4). However,
before the team could arrive, he continued his journey toward
Venezuela (Figure 3d).
At this point, the team was in contact with the Caribbean
Stranding Network, and thanks to this collaboration, several
institutions in Venezuela coordinated efforts to rescue Tico. Given
his extraordinary journey—over 4,000 km—a veterinary evaluation
was necessary to assess his body condition and overall health.
It is believed that during his deep-water journey, where
seagrasses (his main food source) were unavailable, Tico may
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a n o c e a n o f s c i e n c e
a) 2022-07-15 + 8 days b) 2022-07-22 + 8 days
12 0 N
9 0 N
6 0 N
3 0 N
0 0 N
3 0 S
6 0 S
c) 2022-08-01 + 8 days d) 2022-08-15 + 8 days
12 0 N
9 0 N
6 0 N
3 0 N
0 0 N
3 0 S
6 0 S
65 0 W 60 0 W 55 0 W 50 0 W 45 0 W 40 W 35 0 W 65 0 W 60 0 W 55 0 W 50 0 W 45 0 W 40 0 W 35 0 W
Figure 3. Model of the North Brazil Current (grey arrows) and Tico’s
trajectory (red line) for different time intervals (a – d). Light blue
represents shallower depths. From Carvalho et al., 2024.
have fed on Sargassum, as large floating mats of this algae exist
in the region. Additionally, he had eaten near Tobago’s coast, as
confirmed by faecal analysis after his capture in Venezuela.
Manatees need to drink fresh water regularly, so we
analysed the regions Tico traveled through to determine
whether heavy rainfall had occurred. We found that strong
storms had occurred at certain points along his route, which
may have provided him with fresh water.
Studying Tico’s trajectory is important for guiding future
releases, understanding these animals’ movements, and how
manatees manage to survive travelling in deep waters. We
hypothesized that Tico stopped swimming at times and simply
drifted with the current to conserve energy, as his speed
matched known current speeds. Furthermore, understanding
Tico’s journey helped inform the decision about his future. His
capture was necessary for a health evaluation, and returning
him to Brazil was considered the best course of action. This
would allow him another chance to be released within his
original population and habitat. l
• Camila Carvalho de Carvalho 1,2,3 (camilacarvalho.bio08@gmail.com)
1. Associação de Pesquisa e Preservação de Ecossistemas Aquáticos—
AQUASIS, Caucaia, Ceará, Brazil.
2. IUCN South American Sirenian Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland.
3. Instituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Mamirauá—IDSM, Grupo de
Figure 4. Tico sighted at Port of Scarborough, Tobago.
© Miquel Garcia.
Pesquisa em Mamíferos Aquáticos Amazônicos, Tefé, Amazonas, Brazil.
Instagram: @ongaquasis @whoi.ocean
Further reading
Carvalho, C.C. de, Simoes-Sousa, I.T., Santos, L.P., et al. 2024. The
longest documented travel by a West Indian manatee. Journal of the
Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.104:e99. doi:10.1017/
S0025315424000894
April 2025
www.mba.ac.uk

a n o c e a n o f s c i e n c e 13
Recreational angling groups such as BASS, key FinVision Partners,
are important champions of nursery habitat conservation: seen here
surveying juvenile seabass in Cornwall. © Ben Ciotti.
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY
CLOSING THE NET ON THE HABITAT NEEDS OF TINY FISH
An exciting new project seeks to learn more about how commercially important fish species
use inshore habitats. By Ben Ciotti.
It is 3 am on a moonless night in June. In the depths of
Plymouth Sound, a small camera springs to life. Its four
lenses fix their gaze among the towering seagrass blades,
suspended motionless in the gap between tidal ebb and
flow. Amid the tiny crustaceans whizzing in the spotlight, a
small sand smelt glimmers majestically then, with a panicked
fin-flick, is gone. The cause of the sudden departure slowly
fades into view—the sculpted flank of a large seabass. Five
minutes later, duty done, data stored, camera and lights
power down, only to wake again, hour after hour, day after
day, in the quest to reveal the roles played by inshore habitats
in supporting fisheries.
What habitats do young fish need?
The camera is one of 12 developed for the FinVision project,
a Fisheries Industry Science Partnership (FISP) funded by
DEFRA. Deployed in different habitat types for days or
weeks at a time, these cameras are helping us understand
what habitats fish need—information critical for designing
management actions and policy decisions that underpin
viable fisheries and successful nature conservation. In Europe,
more than two-thirds of fish landed in commercial fisheries
are known to rely on inshore habitats at some point in their
life. Yet, coastal areas are on the front line of human impacts
such as pollution, habitat destruction, and climate change.
Notably, habitats like seagrass meadows, saltmarshes, and
kelp forests, considered to be important fish habitats, have
experienced substantial declines along UK coasts. Only with
knowledge of fish habitat requirements can we understand
how the loss or restoration of habitats impacts on fisheries
sustainability and nature conservation.
Even the most casual marine biologist will probably have
some idea where larger, adult fish live, and century-long records
of fisheries catches and scientific surveys provide a tremendous
body of data. But the sought-after big fish are reliant on a
precarious process of development through egg, larval, and
juvenile stages which often don’t make it into the survey net. It
is small variations in the already minute survival rates of these
tiny stages that regulates the size of many fish populations. The
issue is that young fish need habitats to survive—habitats that are
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a n o c e a n o f s c i e n c e
Figure 1. Innovative JHaM-Cam technology for the FinVision
project has been developed by the EmbryoPhenomics team at the
University of Plymouth. © Oliver Tills
often different from those required by adults. In many cases, it
is this juvenile stage that has the tightest reliance on the shallow
areas most impacted by humans, yet we know relatively little
about the habitat requirements of juvenile fish, particularly the
earliest post-larval forms.
The FinVision project is innovating new ways to observe,
study, and gather critical data on easily overlooked young fish.
Bringing together scientists from the University of Plymouth,
representatives of the recreational fishing sector (Bass Anglers
Sportfishing Society, the National Mullet Club, the Angling
Trust) and management organisations (Association of IFCAs,
Southern IFCA, Institute for Fisheries Management), a major
focus of the project is on developing and testing new camera
technology that can film tiny juvenile fish in the wild.
A new tool to understand fish habitat needs
The JHaM-Cam (Juvenile Habitat Monitoring Camera) is a
smart camera system specifically designed for monitoring
juvenile fish (see Fig. 1). It has been designed and constructed
by the University of Plymouth’s EmbryoPhenomics Team, in
partnership with the Advanced Digital Manufacturing and
Innovation Centre, both based at Plymouth Science Park.
The camera has specific adaptations which make it perfect
for the task. Most importantly, it has a bank of four cameras
and integrated lights, enabling 24-hour visualization of the
smallest, thumbnail-sized juveniles that often slip through
other surveys. Run by an onboard computer, the JHaM-Cam
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a n o c e a n o f s c i e n c e 15
has impressive power management capabilities and is able to
operate independently on complex tasks of gathering video
footage and environmental data for deployments extending
over weeks. To set it running, scientists simply configure the
deployment regime wirelessly from their mobile phone—
before plunging it into their habitat of interest (Figs 2 & 3).
Those who have spent happy summer days with nothing
more than a net and a bucket may ask why so much tech is
needed. People have been catching fish from the sea for
millennia, so are there not easier ways to see where fish are
living? Certainly, more traditional approaches such as netting
and diver surveys continue to provide essential information
about juvenile fish habitat needs. But cameras like the
JHaM-Cam are a necessary addition to the toolkit. They are
Figure 2. A JHaM-Cam system hard at work, observing how early
juvenile fish use seagrass habitats. © Richard Gannon.
particularly good at spotting the smallest fish that may not
be seen by divers, or captured in net surveys, and can be
deployed in a range of different habitat types. Furthermore,
the continued day-night, week-long coverage is critical for
capturing fine-scale changes in distribution. Work in the tropics
suggests that habitat use of juvenile fish can be extremely
dynamic, with important shifts and key processes occurring
at the scale of a few hours. In coral reef fish that settle into
juvenile habitats at night, for example, 60 per cent may be lost
before morning arrives. Round the clock, long-term coverage
increases the chances of capturing these important events.
Nature is complex, and therefore innovation must be key
to advancing the approaches we use to sample the natural
world—particularly when we know that current methods have
inherent limitations.
So far, JHaM-Cams have been deployed across six habitat
types in Plymouth Sound and the Tamar Estuary, and alongside
a range of other netting surveys stretching from the Fal,
Cornwall, to the Isle of Wight (Fig. 4). A total of 524 hours of
footage, across 73 deployments, has revealed the daily lives
of species such as pollack, mullet and sea bass. Data from the
deployments is being used directly to advise management
measures by the SIFCA and is forming the basis for new
approaches to monitoring and research.
A window between worlds
As well as providing tools to gather much-needed data, the
FinVision partnership is an important opportunity to widen
participation in research and connect communities and
institutions with the vital ecological role played by coastal
habitats (Fig. 5). Hosting a number of online and in-person
training events, the project also invites members of the public
to view footage and record fish sightings through a public web
Figure 3. a) The
University of
Plymouth’s dive
team return to
the boat after
deploying cameras
in Plymouth Sound.
© University of
Plymouth.
Figure 3. b)
FinVision Research
Assistant Ryan
Hepburn gets
a JHaM-Cam
system ready
for deployment.
© University of
Plymouth.
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a n o c e a n o f s c i e n c e
Figure 4. JHaM-Cam are being developed to complement
netting survey efforts by Southern IFCA, to provide a more
complete picture of how juvenile fish use inshore habitats.
© Southern IFCA.
portal hosted by Zooniverse. A quarter of a million clips have
been analysed on the portal so far—further evidence of the
staggering contributions that can be made by citizen scientists.
Beyond data collection, the web portal represents
an important window between two very separate, but
interconnected, worlds. The web footage brings the dynamic
world of marine creatures into the living room. From the
violence of tidal flows to sublime scenes of colour and
tranquility to the murky confusion of coastal habitats, this is
the world young fish navigate at the very start of their lives.
Seeing beneath the waves inspires curiosity and educates
about the role of marine ecosystems. It also brings a view
of coastal habitats into the polling booth, the boardroom,
the council chamber. It is 29 years since the USA, through
the Sustainable Fisheries Act (1996), formally recognized
‘Essential Fish Habitats’ in fisheries legislation. Similar
legislation does not yet exist in the UK or Europe, but
momentum is building. The 2020 Fisheries Act clearly
recognizes the role ecosystems play in sustaining fisheries,
and the recent reorganization around Fisheries Management
Plans provides a mechanism to insert habitat considerations
into management actions. Projects like FinVision can advance
our understanding of the habitat needs of fish, and will be
important to achieve the robust, evidence-based approach
required to create sustainable fisheries. l
a
Figure 5. a) Volunteers using nets to survey juvenile fish as part
of a FinVision training event run by the Institute of Fisheries
Management.
b) A small goby is at the larger end of the fish being
investigated in the project. © University of Plymouth.
b
• Dr Ben Ciotti (benjamin.ciotti@plymouth.ac.uk).
Get involved:
Are you interested in learning more about the project, seeing
some of the footage and maybe helping to collect data? Please
visit the project webpage www.plymouth.ac.uk/research/marineconservation-research-group/fishing-and-aquaculture/finvision
to learn more. Here, you can sign up to receive updates on the
project and access the interactive web portal.
April 2025
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p o l i c y 17
THE COSTA RICA THERMAL DOME
Jacob Ashton describes a dynamic biodiversity hotspot that
challenges ocean governance approaches.
In the open sea off Central America’s Pacific coast,
something special takes place beneath the waves. An
upwelling of nutrients from deep waters, driven by strong
trade winds and oceanic currents, provides nourishment for
phytoplankton at the surface. Such high primary productivity
attracts prey for large marine animals including sharks, tuna,
dolphins, and the biggest of them all: the blue whale (Fig.1).
This oceanographic feature and biodiversity hotspot is known
as the Costa Rica Thermal Dome.
Nutrient upwellings are not that uncommon in the ocean,
but what makes the Costa Rica Thermal Dome special is its
permanence. Though it ebbs and flows and moves around,
it never stops. There are only a handful of such permanent
upwellings in the world. ‘The upwelling produces an
explosion of biodiversity by feeding blue-green algae, the
area’s primary producers, which in turn feed zooplankton,’
says Jorge Jiménez, General Advisor of the MarViva
Foundation. ‘A lot of fish, cetaceans, and sharks come to feed
on this richness.’
The MarViva Foundation is part of the SARGADOM project,
which is developing potential hybrid governance models
for important sites in the high seas—those parts of the ocean
beyond territorial waters—with a focus on the Sargasso Sea
(off the east coast of North America) and the Costa Rica
Thermal Dome.
A critical ecosystem under threat
The abundance of life at the Dome makes it economically
significant. ‘About 50 per cent of fish landings in Mesoamerica
have some relationship with the Dome,’ says Jorge. ‘And it’s
not just fisheries: many of the dolphins, turtles, and sport fish
that attract tourists to Mesoamerica feed at the Dome too.’
Yet such a concentration of fish brings the risk of overfishing,
especially from large industrial fleets from countries like China,
Taiwan, and Spain. ‘While Mesoamerican countries depend on
the Dome for their coastal economies, they have less political
influence and limited management resources,’ says Jorge.
Marine mammals travel from far and wide to the Dome,
which led to its designation as an Important Marine Mammal
Area by the IUCN in 2022. ‘Blue whales travel 2,000 kilometres
from the coast of California to the Dome, to feed on krill and to
reproduce,’ says Jorge. The Dome’s krill density is among the
world’s highest, but the cetaceans attracted face serious risks in
the area. The proximity of the Panama Canal makes the Dome
a hotspot for cargo vessels which can collide with cetaceans,
produce harmful underwater noise, and cause pollution.
Dynamic management in time and space
The value and risks associated with the Dome make it an
obvious candidate for marine conservation. The area is racking
up designations: Mission Blue named it a Hope Spot for its
ecological importance; the IUCN declared it an Important Shark
and Ray Area; and it’s slated as a possible future UNESCO
World Heritage Site. Perhaps most significantly, advocacy
successes by SARGADOM and others mean that the Dome
is on track to being designated a Particularly Sensitive Sea
Area by the International Maritime Organization, which would
encourage ships to take precautionary measures to avoid
collisions with marine mammals (Fig. 1). However, all these
accolades lack the regulatory teeth needed to comprehensively
manage the area.
Why is this protection not yet in place? Firstly, the
Thermal Dome moves around a lot as winds and currents
change with the seasons. ‘We’re used to managing sites
within clear boundaries, but in the marine environment
this doesn’t work,’ says Jorge. ‘We believe that eventually
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p o l i c y
Figure 2. The Thermal
Dome’s persistence shifts
in time, including over
international boundaries.
© Fundación MarViva.
Figure 2. The Thermal Dome's persistence shifts in time, including
over international boundaries. © Fundación MarViva.
static management should be forgotten, and dynamic
management should take precedence, especially in the
case of the Thermal Dome.’ The growing impact of climate
change worldwide also demonstrates the urgent need for
dynamic management, as ecosystems shift in response to
changing conditions.
The other big challenge is that at least half of the Thermal
Dome is in the high seas beyond nations’ territorial waters
(Fig. 2). No one state is responsible for managing the area.
The high seas make up two-thirds of the world’s ocean but
managing them involves complex collaborations that are
difficult to implement.
International efforts are underway to create a framework
for, the management and protection of the high seas,
through the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction
(BBNJ) Treaty, which was agreed by UN member states in
2023. However, it is still a long way from entering into force.
‘We have to be prudent in our expectations of the BBNJ
Treaty,’ says Jorge. ‘It could be a great thing, but it could
also be a big failure.’ He notes that there are still no agreedupon
mechanisms for how the treaty will work in practice,
and that various constraints could undermine compliance.
Figure 1 (right). The
world’s largest animal,
the endangered blue
whale, is a frequent
visitor to the Costa
Rica Thermal Dome.
Image supplied by
MarViva. © Ajit S N _
Shutterstock.
Figure 3. A smart
buoy is prepared for
deployment.
© Fundación MarViva.
SARGADOM: advocating for effective management
The SARGADOM project is dedicated to facilitating
the protection of the Dome, both through building the
evidence base to advocate for its protection, and through
helping develop hybrid ocean governance approaches.
In collaboration with LOV Laboratory, the team recently
deployed smart buoys that will record a range of
oceanographic variables over the next 5 years, including
acoustic measurements for analysis by the Scripps Institute
Fig. 3). ‘These will provide the first long-term dataset on the
Dome, which should hopefully inform future management
measures,’ says Jorge. Findings will be integrated into a
socio-economic diagnostic analysis (SEDA) which will help
recommend potential management responses.
Alongside this research, the team is examining other
management measures that could support protection, as well
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p o l i c y 19
About 50 per cent of fish
landings in Mesoamerica have
some relationship with the
Costa Rica Thermal Dome
as actively engaging with Mesoamerican governments to
foster ambition for cross-country governance efforts. ‘When
we’ve been talking to ministers and government staff in these
countries over the past year, it’s often the first time they’ve
heard of the Dome,’ says Jorge. ‘It will take several years at
least to get to a place where intergovernmental management
could be a reality.’
Though the path ahead is long, the team is hopeful that the
Thermal Dome could one day provide an effective pioneer site
to demonstrate effective governance in the high seas. ‘While
it takes time to develop effective management, collaborative
efforts and technological advances can greatly help the process,’
says Jorge. ‘We know that high seas sites like the Thermal Dome
are vitally important, so we need to do it right.’ l
• Jacob Ashton (jacob@jacobashton.net)
www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-ashton-59a217130/
Further reading
marviva.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Atlas-Domo-Termico-Ingles-
MarViva-web.pdf
sargadom.com/project/
gobi.org/projects/the-costa-rica-thermal-dome/
www.mba.ac.uk
April 2025

20 f e a t u r e
ARE VIBRANT
BLUE ECONOMIES
THE FUTURE FOR SMALL
ISLAND DEVELOPING
STATES?
Dan Watt-Smith asks, can ocean nations unlock
investment to become Vibrant Blue Economies?
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f e a t u r e 21
Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are a group of
island nations around the world renowned for their
natural beauty. Images of palm-fringed beaches and
vibrant underwater worlds are what make them such
attractive destinations for tourists. But islands like Samoa,
Fiji, Jamaica, and Barbados are so much more than holiday
destinations. They have extraordinary biodiversity and natural
resources that are vital to the health of our ocean and therefore
the planet as a whole—and they face an existential crisis.
Together SIDS contribute less than one per cent of global
greenhouse gas emissions, yet they suffer disproportionately
from the changing climate. Their combined population of
approximately 65 million people across over 1,000 islands
is particularly vulnerable to hurricanes, cyclones, flooding,
and rising sea levels, and their economies are poorly placed
to rebuild in the aftermath of these sudden shocks. In short,
SIDS are on the front line of climate change and face an
uncertain future. What can be done to stop the ruin of these
precious islands?
Large ocean nations
The answer may lie in changing the way we think about
small islands, focusing less on the land and more on the
huge areas of ocean under their control. The natural assets
in and around these waters have rich economic potential
that could underwrite the restoration of these fragile
ecosystems. Nature-based solutions, eco-tourism initiatives,
investment in biodiversity and carbon markets, plus
innovative approaches to insurance can all play their part
in creating a new wave of vibrant blue economies across
our oceans.
’We think of these islands as small, but the amount of
ocean they control is about 28 times larger than their land
size,’ says Dr Deborah Brosnan, marine scientist, climate risk
expert and a contributor to the film Vibrant Blue Economies
produced by cross-platform channel RE:TV. ‘They’re not
small island developing states; they’re large ocean nations.
Those 65 million people living in SIDS and their cultures have
weathered many natural hazards and disasters. They have a
lot to teach us about resilience. But a lot of these islands are
now in trouble, and they need us as much as we need them.’
The coastal ecosystems around these islands, like
mangroves and seagrass meadows, can capture carbon
up to 40 times more efficiently than forests on land. ‘Their
oceans regulate climate; they have coral reefs that sustain
12 per cent of the world’s fisheries’. says Brosnan. But a lot of
these island nations are torn between the cycle of recovering
from natural disasters and investing in growth. In September
2019, Hurricane Dorian, the strongest storm ever to hit
the Bahamas, tragically claimed the lives of 74 people and
caused total devastation.
Paul Andrew Gomez, High Commissioner of the Bahamas,
who also features in the Vibrant Blue Economies film, says,
‘Hurricane Dorian created about $3.4bn in damage, which is
a quarter of our GDP.’
Physical and financial resilience
How do we make that debt more sustainable and support
these islands to become more resilient so we can break this
cycle? ‘Each country has to determine where its strengths are
and making sure that we monetize them,’ says Gomez. ‘We
have limited resources, we’re remote, we’re big ocean states,
and therefore we’ve got to determine what would attract
international financiers to us.’
Investing in SIDS is not just about philanthropy; it’s
Dr Deborah Brosnan,
marine scientist and
climate risk expert.
© www.oceans-hope.
com
Paul Andrew
Gomez, High
Commissioner of
the Bahamas
© www.oceanshope.com
a smart business move. Brosnan says, ‘It’s a business
opportunity: creating a resilient world, investing in naturebased
solutions, which reduces their costs, reduces their
risks of being viable into the future, and creates a return on
investment.’
It seems simple in principle; harness nature and work with
local communities through global investment to create both
physical and financial resilience that benefit not only the
islands but the wider world. But is there a pathway to actually
achieving it, and which industries will become the pillars of
this vibrant blue economy?
‘In the Bahamas we’re very proactive,’ says Gomez. ‘We
have the largest area in the world of seagrass beds and
that’s being monetized. They’re so valuable to the Bahamas
because of the role they play in mitigating climate change.
Per acre, seagrass beds sequester more carbon than the
Amazon Rainforest. The government believes that we can
collect about $300 m annually in terms of carbon credits and
so that puts a valuation on the seagrass beds at about $50
bn. With this added income, we would be able to manage
natural disasters a lot better.’
Investing in nature
No other industry has a greater effect on the landscape
than tourism and hospitality. It has a unique opportunity to
enhance resilience and sustainability by integrating naturebased
solutions into business models. But when it comes to
recovery, there’s another sector that can help by rewarding
and strengthening these investments in nature.
Rebekah Clement, Corporate Affairs Director, Lloyd’s, and
Vibrant Blue Economies film contributor, says, ‘There are lots
of opportunities for the insurance and hospitality industries
to work together. Insurance is essentially a promise to pay
when the unexpected or the unthinkable happens. What has
to go hand in hand with that is the adaptation and resilience
of measures that are being taken. Of course, the more
resilient you are, the more likely it is that you’re going to have
a lower risk price.
‘The United Nations estimates that $6 bn a year in naturebased
disaster risk management can save around $360 bn in
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22 f e a t u r e
A marine restoration project supported by the
Soneva Foundation. © www.oceans-hope.com
Collaboration
The difficulty in creating vibrant blue economies is bringing all
the pieces of the puzzle together but, as Paul Andrew Gomez
explains, there are solutions: ‘The Commonwealth Secretariat in
collaboration with Cambridge University have come up with a
product called Compass. It provides a pathway into international
funding in a very efficient way in terms of small island developing
states partnering together and coming up with solutions, sharing
resources, which derisks projects. Compass attempts to provide
small island developing states with financing so that they’re less
reliant on major lending institutions for solutions. There’s got
to be collaboration between countries, collaboration between
the government and lending agencies, [and between] the
government and insurance companies.’
avoided losses. I don’t think we need any more evidence to
prove to us that investment in nature is a smart investment.
The numbers speak for themselves.’
Investment in small island nations has the potential to
be lucrative whilst at the same time being crucial to global
climate solutions. But how can we encourage investment
in SIDS in the first place? Brosnan says, ‘Without finance
nothing is going to happen. Often, I hear investors say,
there are no projects to invest in, but nothing could be
further from the truth. There are projects out there—it’s just
that the two sides are not usually together in the same room.
We need the government, and we need the hospitality
industry working very closely together.’
She concludes, ‘When we’re asking for people to invest
in innovative solutions involving nature, we need to be able
to identify and quantify so that we know if they’re working.
It gives investor confidence to know that this is an outcome
that’s predicted. We have the science, we have the knowhow;
what we need is the will to do it, and then do it!’ l
• Dan Watt-Smith (Dan.Watt-Smith@atomizedstudios.tv), Channel Editor,
RE:TV
Watch RE:TV’s film Vibrant Blue Economies at:
www.re-tv.org/articles/vibrant-blue-economies
Above. The Soneva coral restoration
programme. © www.oceans-hope.com
Left. Dr Johanna Leonhardt, Lead Scientist,
Soneva Conservation.
© www.oceans-hope.com
Restoration
The Soneva Foundation has set up a coral restoration project in the
Maldives. Johanna Leonhardt, Lead Scientist, Soneva Conservation,
says, ‘I think the Soneva coral restoration programme is one of the
pioneers of preserving and conserving natural assets. The dream
is to rehabilitate and restore the coral reefs around all the Soneva
properties in the Maldives as our benchmark and then spread our
techniques to create a community of healthy coral reef systems.
If a small island in the Maldives can create over 150,000 corals
that we can outplant per year, anyone in the tourism sector should
be considering what they can do as a sustainable footprint that
actually nurtures the same place that they get all their benefits and
revenue from.’
April 2025
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f e a t u r e 23
THE IMPORTANCE OF BLUE
CARBON IN THE MANAGEMENT
OF COASTAL RESERVES
Holly Hill explains how the Royal Society for the Protection of
Birds (RSPB) is applying research into blue carbon.
Gannets at RSPB Bempton Cliffs, perched on the cliffs
and feeding in the open ocean. © Holly Hill
The Blue Carbon Mapping Project, completed by the
SAMS (Scottish Association for Marine Science) on
behalf of the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature),
The Wildlife Trusts, and the RSPB, generated valuable
data and insight on carbon sequestration and storage in
coastal ecosystems. But how is this translating into tangible
conservation actions within RSPB reserves, particularly in the
dynamic intertidal zones where land and sea converge?
The RSPB is the largest conservation charity in Europe
and is renowned for its bird and nature conservation efforts.
The organization plays a pivotal role in safeguarding bird
populations through a combination of scientific research,
habitat restoration, advocacy, and public engagement. While
the RSPB has achieved remarkable success in protecting
bird species and their habitats, its focus on coastal habitat
restoration and adaptation for migratory birds and seabirds is
especially challenging because the effects of climate change
are compounded here compared to terrestrial habitats.
The interplay of coastal ecosystems
From shorebirds feeding on exposed mudflats during low tide
to nesting colonies of seabirds on nearby islands, cliffs, and
estuaries, the intertidal zone plays a vital role in supporting the
life cycles of numerous bird species. Their breeding colonies
are sensitive to disturbances from human activities, while their
foraging ranges extend from land to far out at sea, making
them vulnerable to changes in marine ecosystems.
With their reliance on both marine and terrestrial
environments, these birds therefore serve as valuable
indicators of ecosystem health. Understanding the intricate
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24 f e a t u r e
Redshank feeding on the mudflats at RSPB Old Hall
Marshes, Essex. © Holly Hill.
interplay between these terrestrial and marine processes
is crucial for effective conservation of UK seabirds and the
coastal ecosystems they inhabit.
The productive waters of the north-east Atlantic continental
shelf support a flourishing food web, benefiting populations
of zooplankton, small fish, and seabirds. For example,
razorbills, guillemots and puffins, which rely heavily on small
oil-rich fish species like sand eel, sprat, herring and Norway
pout (collectively recognized as ‘forage fish’), are strongly
associated with areas of high productivity. The importance
of forage fish for seabirds can’t be overstated and it is
key to ensure that the life stages of these fish species are
understood, managed, and protected so that human impacts
don’t exacerbate natural fluctuations in productivity that
force seabirds to travel further to find food, increasing energy
expenditure for foraging and hindering breeding and roosting.
A coast under pressure
Human society relies heavily on coastal ecosystem services such
as carbon sequestration, coastal protection (protecting property
and infrastructure from erosion, and flood risk mitigation), and
nurseries for commercially targeted species of fish.
Threats facing the coast include coastal squeeze, where
intertidal habitats encounter hard barriers and cannot adapt
to sea level rise, and accelerated erosion driven by changes
in weather systems due to climate change. These combined
pressures degrade coastal ecosystems and their capacity
to provide essential ecosystem services by disrupting
UK coastal and marine
habitats store an incredible
244 million tonnes of organic
carbon.
Wigeon and teal feeding at low tide in the
Black Water Estuary, Essex. © Holly Hill.
April 2025
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f e a t u r e 25
ecological processes and reducing biodiversity.
There is a strong case for the restoration of natural
coastlines as they are better able to adapt to climate change
whilst bringing multiple benefits to people and wildlife.¹
The RSPB's contribution to blue carbon research
Blue carbon, the carbon captured and stored by marine
and coastal ecosystems like saltmarshes, mudflats, and
seagrass meadows, has become a significant research topic,
and for good reason. The Blue Carbon Mapping Project, a
partnership project between The Wildlife Trusts, WWF and
RSPB, recently mapped and quantified carbon captured and
stored within UK coastal and marine habitats, finding they
store an incredible 244 million tonnes of organic carbon.
Saltmarsh and seagrass meadows are highly effective at
capturing and storing carbon—in the case of saltmarsh, up
to 40 times faster than temperate forests—but they cover a
much smaller area. The scientific findings of the report have
supported several key asks and recommendations by the
partner organizations. Among these are the need for all
marine protected areas to be protected from destructive
activities that damage blue carbon habitats or threaten
marine life, and ensuring that the impacts of developments
on blue carbon are included in marine planning.
The report also found that the UK blue carbon habitats
sequester up to 13 million tonnes of carbon a year. Therefore,
by restoring and protecting our blue carbon habitats, the UK
has an incredible opportunity to utilize its extensive coasts and
seas to help us reach net-zero.
While this blue carbon research has generated valuable
data, its translation into concrete, on-the-ground reserve
management practices remains challenging. The RSPB's own
1. www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2024/research/naturecoastal-solutions/
research could inform the optimal location and integration
of coastal restoration projects and highlights opportunities
to utilize coastal RSPB reserves for blue carbon projects,
particularly in locations where carbon density and recovery
potential are high. Successful restoration of the intertidal zone
involves addressing myriad barriers and issues, including
water quality, which can limit light penetration and prevent
seagrass from growing. This highlights a crucial aspect of landsea
interactions: the need to address land-based pollution
sources and improve water quality to support successful
seagrass restoration and maximize blue carbon sequestration.
At Old Hall Marshes, an RSPB reserve in Essex with extensive
saltmarshes, significant potential exists for seagrass restoration
in the Blackwater Estuary. However, coastal restoration often
requires a large amount of land, much of which is privately
owned. The situation adds complexity to the work of the RSPB
who rely heavily on engagement with private landowners to
achieve large scale restoration projects either by releasing
areas of land or becoming stewards of these important areas.
The lack of funding and resources for this type of project also
creates a significant gap between research and action.
It is important to acknowledge the RSPB’s successes in
integrating blue carbon research into its management practices.
The Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project, a large-scale habitat
creation project in Essex, demonstrates the potential for
effective integration. This project, which involved the creation
of new intertidal habitats, including saltmarshes and mudflats,
has not only provided significant water quality and carbon
sequestration benefits, but also created habitat for juvenile fish
to boost fish stocks and improved flood resilience during storm
surges creating a deposition environment where sediment
accretion may keep pace with sea level rise. Furthermore, it
created valuable habitats for a wide range of bird species such
as common terns, avocet, godwits, plovers, and geese.
I believe that prioritizing marine habitat restoration has
the potential to act as a springboard for bird populations at
coastal reserves, because once the habitat is in harmony, birds
will be drawn towards healthy ecosystems with higher food
availability and breeding, nesting, and roosting sites.
The future of coastal conservation
The 2025 Coastal Futures conference highlighted ‘Land-
Sea Interactions’ and ‘Restoring Nature’ as key themes for
achieving 2030 climate and environmental targets such as
the United Nations (UN) Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). SDG 14
is particularly relevant as it focuses on protecting marine and
coastal biodiversity. Discussions at the conference stressed
the importance of systems thinking and improving placebased
decision making to strengthen coastal conservation
efforts. Therefore, integrating scientific findings, such as
those from The Blue Carbon Mapping Project, is critical to
effectively restoring our coastal habitats and the species
that rely on them, as well as building climate resilience and
achieving net-zero. l
• Holly Hill (holly.hill@rspb.org.uk) Field Officer, Solent Seascape Project.
www.linkedin.com/in/holly-hill-
Further reading
Burrows, M.T., O’Dell, A., Tillin, H., Grundy, S., Sugden, H., Moore, P.,
Fitzsimmons, C., Austin, W., and Smeaton, C. 2024. The United Kingdom’s
Blue Carbon Inventory: Assessment of Marine Carbon Storage and
Sequestration Potential in UK Seas (Including Within Marine Protected Areas).
A Report to The Wildlife Trusts, WWF and the RSPB. Scottish Association for
Marine Science, Oban.
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26 f e a t u r e
NOT A TRUE
CRAB —
BUT A
TRUE
SURVIVOR
The strange tale of the horseshoe crab. By Utpal Mallick.
Imagine yourself in the 1950s, working in a laboratory where
vaccine vials arrive for testing to determine their safety for
human use. You would probably conduct the rabbit pyrogen
test, the standard method for detecting endotoxins at the
time. Endotoxins are tiny fragments from the cell walls of
certain types of bacteria that can slip unnoticed into medicines
during production, causing fever, shock, or even death when
administered to humans. You select healthy rabbits that had
not been used in prior tests and inject a measured amount of
the pharmaceutical sample into the ear veins of each rabbit
before gently placing them back in their cages.
Your team monitors the rabbits’ body temperatures for
the next 3 hours. Any increase in temperature is a sign that
endotoxins might be present in the sample. By the end of the
3 hours, the results are in. A few samples show no pyrogenic
reaction in the rabbits, marking them as safe. Others
triggered fevers, leading to further testing and investigation.
Looking back, there were numerous disadvantages to
this test. It required live rabbits, which could experience
significant stress, discomfort, and potential harm during
testing. Factors such as the rabbits’ health, environmental
conditions, and sensitivity could skew the outcome, making
it less reliable. The test was time, resource and labour
intensive, slowing down production timelines.
A surge in demand for horseshoe crabs
But endotoxin detection was about to change. In September
1964, Dr Frederick Bang and Dr Jack Levin shared their
ground-breaking findings on the role of endotoxins in
the coagulation of horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus)
blood. Dr Bang had long been fascinated by the immune
systems of marine invertebrates. He noticed that when
exposed to Gram-negative bacteria, an extreme clotting
reaction occurred, forming a gel-like substance. Dr Levin,
a haematology researcher, hypothesized that endotoxins
triggered the coagulation response. In a series of meticulous
experiments, the pair demonstrated that blood responded
specifically to the presence of endotoxins, even at minuscule
concentrations.
This discovery sparked a revolution. Here was a safer,
faster way to ensure that injectable drugs and medical
devices were free from harmful contaminants. It was 1970
when Levin and Bang took another monumental step in their
pioneering work with endotoxins, asking: could the same
principle be applied to human blood?
The researchers began with blood samples from
patients suffering from suspected Gram-negative bacterial
infections. They tested the blood samples for coagulation
using the Limulus Amoebocyte Lysate (LAL) reagent and
the results were revolutionary. The LAL test detected
endotoxins with remarkable accuracy in patients with
confirmed sepsis caused by Gram-negative bacteria. For
the first time, clinicians had a reliable tool to identify this
critical marker in real time. Levin and Bang’s work advanced
our understanding of endotoxins and bridged the gap
between marine biology and human medicine. Their
findings, published in The New England Journal of Medicine,
underscored the profound interconnectedness of life and
the untapped potential of nature’s solutions in addressing
humanity’s most pressing challenges.
In 1977, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
officially approved the LAL test reagent for detecting bacterial
endotoxins in pharmaceuticals and medical devices. This
was a groundbreaking advancement for medical safety,
but it came with unintended consequences. The approval
marked a surge in the demand for horseshoe crab blood
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f e a t u r e 27
Horseshoe crab facts
l Horseshoe crabs belong to the Merostomata class and are more
closely related to spiders and scorpions than crustaceans.
l These marine arthropods have roamed the Earth for over 450
million years, long before the age of dinosaurs.
l There are just four species: Limulus polyphemus (Western Atlantic),
and three Indo-Pacific species, Tachypleus gigas, Tachypleus
tridentatus and Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda.
l Both Tachypleus species are listed as Endangered on the IUCN
Red List.
l Horseshoe crabs’ eggs serve as an essential food source for
migratory shorebirds.
l Horseshoe crab blood is blue and has several proteins and
enzymes that react and form a clot on contact with endotoxins.
A mating pair of Tachypleus gigas partially buried in the
sand with the female carrying the male on her back.
Bay of Bengal, India.
and pharmaceutical companies began harvesting them in
significant numbers. Although the crabs were returned to
the wild after the process, blood extraction and handling
stress resulted in mortality rates ranging from 10 to 30 per
cent. Coupled with habitat loss from coastal development
and overharvesting for use as bait in the fishing industry,
horseshoe crab numbers began to decline in several regions
of the mid-Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific coastline. Scientists
and conservationists grew alarmed at the potential knock-on
effects, as the decline of horseshoe crabs also threatened
migratory birds, like the red knot, which rely on their nutrientrich
eggs for sustenance during long migrations. Considering
the need for endotoxin detection and the rapid decline in
horseshoe crab populations, a method was urgently needed
to balance these two concerns.
Above: A fisherman rescues a horseshoe crab. © Saurabh
Chakraborty / Ocean Image Bank / Mangrove Photography Awards.
Above: Factors contributing to the decline of horseshoe crab
populations worldwide.
Cloning to the rescue
In 1997, a breakthrough occurred when Ding et al.,
researchers at the National University of Singapore,
successfully expressed and produced recombinant Factor
C (rFC) by cloning the cDNA sequence of Factor C, a critical
endotoxin-sensitive protein, from the mangrove horseshoe
crab (Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda). By replicating Factor
C in the laboratory, researchers had created a synthetic
alternative to LAL that eliminated the need to harvest
horseshoe crabs for their blood. Following its development,
rFC underwent rigorous testing and refinement. It was
found to be ecologically sustainable and highly efficient. By
removing the dependency on live animals, rFC addressed
ethical and conservation concerns, offering a long-term
solution to safeguard horseshoe crab populations while
maintaining stringent medical safety standards.
Despite its promise, widespread adoption of rFC faced
hurdles. Regulatory agencies, accustomed to the triedand-tested
LAL, were initially slow to approve rFC for
pharmaceutical quality control. Additionally, industries heavily
invested in LAL production hesitated to transition to the new
technology. However, growing awareness of environmental
sustainability and increasing evidence of rFC’s reliability have
gradually shifted the tide, with European Pharmacopoeia
allowing the use of rFC to test for bacterial endotoxins in
pharmaceutical waters in 2023.
This is a reminder that progress is rarely linear, but with
continued dedication, collaboration, and innovation, solutions
that benefit both people and the planet are within reach.
The story of rFC’s rise is not just about replacing one testing
method with another—it’s about forging a path where scientific
progress and environmental stewardship walk hand in hand,
ensuring a future where medical safety, ethical responsibility,
and conservation can thrive together. l
• Utpal Mallick (p20210052@goa.bits-pilani.ac.in) Research Scholar, Vista Lab,
BITS Pilani KK Birla Goa Campus, India.
Member of IUCN Horseshoe crab specialist group.
www.linkedin.com/in/utpal-mallick-769704279/
Further reading
Levin, J. and Bang, F.B. 1964. The role of endotoxin in the extracellular
coagulation of limulus blood. Bulletin of the Johns Hopkins Hospital,
115, 265-274.
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April 2025

28 f e a t u r e
AN OCEAN-FRIENDLY
NATIONAL CURRICULUM
Teaching about the ocean is fundamental to help children
understand our planet. We spoke to Ceri Lewis and Jamie
Buchanan-Dunlop about the journey to build ocean literacy
into the UK National Curriculum.
Dr Ceri Lewis.
Jamie Buchanan-Dunlop.
© Ceri Lewis.
April 2025
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f e a t u r e 29
The ‘Arctic Live’ expedition to Svalbard. Dr Ceri
Lewis observes a large plankton net used to sample
both zooplankton and microplastics.
© Jamie Buchanan-Dunlop.
January 2011 and was ongoing until 2014. Ocean Literacy
UK was formed to influence this review, initial drafts of which
had no mention of the ocean. Advocacy by Ocean Literacy UK
made inroads through the inclusion of the phrase ‘globally
significant places—both terrestrial and marine’ into geography,
and including the ocean as an alternative habitat for the
teaching of biological processes in science.
In 2024, a new national curriculum review was announced,
with recommendations to be published in 2025.
Helping teachers use ocean contexts
To a minister conducting a review of the National Curriculum,
marine biology is just one of many competing interests. Jamie
says, ‘I don’t want the ocean to be half an hour in the curriculum
It’s essential, not just for understanding our planet, but for
enhancing the quality of a young person’s environmental
education from a basic physical and biological science point of
view, and for how they find their place on this planet.’
When looking at the place of the ocean in the national
curriculum, it can be instructive to distinguish between
content and context. While Ocean Literacy UK did add explicit
mentions of ocean content, there are still many opportunities
to teach using ocean contexts. From food chains to habitats,
and adaptation to human impact, there are many topics in
the science programmes of study that do not specify any
particular way in which they should be taught. ‘Teachers will
naturally gravitate towards using contexts that are close to
them, such as the school grounds,’ says Jamie. ‘We want to
see more scope for those concepts to be deepened by using
ocean contexts alongside school grounds contexts.’ This
is particularly the case in the primary and early secondary
curriculum, and work is underway as part of the current
curriculum review to enable teachers to think about using the
ocean as a context for study. In the 2014 curriculum review,
for example, weather and climate change, hydrology and
coasts, and human impact on the environment featured more
prominently in geography for key stage 3 (ages 11–14). These
are natural entry points for ocean topics.
Many marine biology educators and communicators
in the UK bemoan the fact that the ocean doesn’t
feature in nearly enough depth in the national
curriculum. Children are leaving school lacking
basic knowledge of the variety of life in the sea, the earth
system, or its importance for providing ecosystem services
that are vital for human survival.
Back in 2011, marine scientist Ceri Lewis and explorer, ocean
advocate, and educator Jamie Buchanan-Dunlop were part of
the Catlin Arctic Survey expedition, hunkered down in a tent on
the sea ice in the Canadian Arctic, waiting for a snowstorm to
pass. They had an idea to change the way future generations
learn about the ocean and the world around them.
What too few people grasp is the extent of the ocean’s
influence on us and our influence on the ocean. This
knowledge forms part of ocean literacyLiteracy, which, in its
simplest form, is about mending people’s relationship with
the ocean and how it impacts their lives. It is not a new idea,
but has gained much traction in academic, social, and political
circles following its integration into the UN Decade of Ocean
Science for Sustainable Development.
A review of the national curriculum was announced in
Supporting learners towards behaviour change
The knowledge to action gap is something that environmental
educators of all stripes have worked on for decades.
The current national curriculum focuses on knowledge
and awareness. However, recent UNESCO ocean literacy
publications have pushed for a wider conception that
supports learners towards behaviour change.
In the current education model, the two pillars of learning
are knowledge and awareness, and skills and behaviours. ‘A
lot of the work we’ve done over the past decade has been
about getting knowledge and awareness into the curriculum,’
says Jamie. ‘The next stage is to look at how education can
move people to behave, act, and think differently. Newer
models of environmental literacy show the need to introduce
connectedness, values and attitudes, and competences to
bridge the gap between knowledge and action.
‘The challenge, therefore, is moving from “I know stuff” to “I
feel connected to this, I want to do something about it, and I
have the skills to do something …”.’
Without this broader conception of ocean literacy, there
is no clear pathway to teach, for example, climate action or
nature conservation.
What would an ocean-literate curriculum
look like?
According to the briefing paper, The ocean in the national
curriculum, ocean literacy in the curriculum is still hampered by:
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30 f e a t u r e
‘There was a lack
of confidence
among teachers
to use ocean
examples because
they weren’t
taught them.’
Catlin Arctic Survey: polar
explorers and scientists measured
the impacts of climate change
on the Arctic environment and
beyond. © Martin Hartley.
l a lack of coherence teaching the Earth System, together
with living things and habitats;
l loss of the connection between knowledge and action,
namely the development of connectedness to environments,
values, attitudes, and competences;
l a lack of concerted development of ocean topics in upper
key stages, and the continuation of the view that the ocean is
one habitat rather than a plurality of habitats.
Four broad areas were identified where the ocean can be
made more prominent, to enhance not only ocean literacy
but also a more coherent and current curriculum offer overall:
the Earth System; ecosystem goods and services; equality
between terrestrial and marine ecosystems; and a fuller
idea of environmental literacy that connects knowledge and
awareness all the way to behaviour change.
Connecting scientists and teachers
Let's rewind to that discussion on the ice during the 2011
expedition. Dr Ceri Lewis from the University of Exeter takes
up the story. ‘I was working on copepods, which are the most
abundant little animal on the planet. Camping at –30°C is
a fantastic storyline for hooking kids into the science that
we were doing. Copepods play an important role in global
carbon cycling and I was on the ice to study their responses
to changes in the carbonate chemistry of the seawater in the
spring transition period.
‘Jamie and I decided to try and engage schoolkids with
copepods by linking to the effort we were going to in order
to study them, and then giving the big numbers about these
incredible little animals.’
Jamie, previously a teacher in an inner-city London school, had
recently set up an educational organization called Encounter
Edu (see box). When he was invited on the expedition, there
was nothing in the PGCE (teacher training course) about
marine life, and the word ‘ocean’ didn’t appear in biology
curriculums.
Ceri explains, ‘There was a lack of confidence among
teachers to use ocean examples because they weren’t taught
them. Additionally, most schools were underequipped for
outdoor activities, limiting the experiences in nature they were
able to have.’
Rather than dwelling on why marine biology wasn’t taught,
Ceri and Jamie approached teachers directly. After countless
conversations with many teachers, Encounter Edu came up
with simple teaching materials that integrated the ocean in
the delivery of core topics in the curriculum (See Box). One
of the methods was to use ocean examples to illustrate key
concepts: for example, photosynthesis.
‘Jamie would always come back to me with the example of
the hardest-to-reach child in whom to instil excitement about
teaching resources: a theoretical child who doesn’t get breakfast
before he comes to school and has never been to the beach.’
The outcome from the Arctic expedition was hugely
successful: the first set of marine-themed resources for
teachers aimed at schoolchildren from ages 7 to 16 that
bridged the gap between the curriculum and current
marine biological research that they were conducting. These
resources ongoing expanded into a series of live lesson
broadcasts from research in the Arctic.
More recently, Ceri has worked with Encounter Edu on a
new set of resources, based around the Convex Seascape
Survey. 1 ‘It’s about carbon, how it accumulates in mud, what
lives in the mud, and why it’s important for climate change.
I’ve been really happy with how kids have engaged with that.’
1. convexseascapesurvey.com
April 2025
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f e a t u r e 31
Encounter Edu resources
Encounter Edu produces ready-to-use online resources, including live lessons by
researchers and scientists, and hands-on activity plans.
Ocean expeditions and field scientists represent great content that can really
make the curriculum come to life. Encounter Edu’s resources are made up of
two components: a large library of lesson plans, activities, and multimedia that
can be used on an ad hoc basis, and live lessons broadcast on YouTube. Ceri
Lewis explains, ‘Children can type in questions and the scientist answers them,
referring to the school and the child by name. Kids really engage with that
because they can see that you are talking to them, they see where you are, and
you tell them what you’re doing.’
Resources that bring new, often unfamiliar, subject knowledge have to be:
• engaging and fun for kids
• aligned with what teachers have to teach
• easy for teachers
• comprehensive and off-the-shelf
Example: how do you give children a practical
explanation of how blubbery Arctic animals are
adapted to their environment? Get a child to put on
one rubber glove and cover that hand in margarine.
Their other hand is bare skin. The child puts both
hands in a bucket of water and ice to compare the
insulating qualities.
Encounter Edu’s resources are aligned to the
curriculum or exam specifications and are available for
free on their website upon registering.
See: encounteredu.com
Left: Ocean Heroes, one of Encounter Edu’s wide range of
online ocean teaching resources.
Connecting knowledge (awareness) and action
(behaviour change)
Global Citizenship was taken out of the curriculum in the
2014 review so that big topics such as climate change
and nature loss could be taught by subject specialists.
Consequently, values and attitudes could no longer be
taught alongside subject content.
Encounter Edu resources place emphasis on the values
and attitudes to help bridge the gap between knowledge
and action. YouTube live broadcasts connect young people
to scientists. ‘Scientists are human beings, too', says Jamie.
'They see change and they want to understand and make a
difference, and they want people to be engaged.’
Technology also has a role to play in connecting children
to environments they may never be able to visit. Encounter
Edu has used the XL Catlin Seaview Survey with Google
Expeditions in which virtual reality enables users to explore
coral reefs.
‘Working with scientists like Ceri is ideal because you
have someone who’s at the forefront of how the planet is
changing,’ says Jamie. ‘The ability to explain those changes
and the desire to help translate that into what 7–16-year-olds
might understand is fantastic.’
The hope is that the current curriculum review process
will result in robust subject knowledge alongside the
development of values, skills, and action.
Embedding ocean literacy in the UK national
curriculum
Ocean Literacy UK has increased opportunities for ocean
educators to support teachers, schools, and education
organizations to develop ocean literacy as an integrated
curriculum topic rather than as an extracurricular activity.
There are many ways for marine biologists to help teach
ocean topics in schools. ‘In its simplest form, you can just
show photographs of what you do,’ says Jamie, ‘making sure
you include the smelliest, stinkiest, scariest examples. Grab a
resource from somewhere like Encounter Edu, offer to go to
your local school and ‘team teach’ with a teacher. You would
be an absolute hero in their eyes.’ l
• Jamie Buchanan-Dunlop (jamie@encounteredu.com) Founder and CEO of
Encounter Edu.
• Dr Ceri Lewis (C.N.Lewis@exeter.ac.uk), Associate Professor in Marine
Biology, University of Exeter.
@cezzalew.bsky.social
• Guy Baker Mem.MBA
If you’d like to support ocean literacy in education,
please share the briefing paper, The ocean in the
National Curriculum with your MP or other government
representatives: mymba.mba.ac.uk/resource/the-ocean-inthe-national-curriculum.html
Further reading
Encounter Edu and Blue Marine Foundation. 2025. The ocean
in the National Curriculum. Available at: mymba.mba.ac.uk/
resource/the-ocean-in-the-national-curriculum.html
McKinley, E. 2023. The evolution of ocean literacy. The Marine
Biologist. 27. mymba.mba.ac.uk/resource/the-evolution-ofocean-literacy.html
www.mba.ac.uk
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32
t h e v o i c e o f m a r i n e b i o l o g y
THE
ROCK POOL
CHALLENGE
NATIONAL
BIOBLITZ
Join the hunt for coastal wildlife
The UK’s coastal rock pools are
teeming with extraordinary
marine life, yet much of their
biodiversity remains underrecorded
and underappreciated. That’s
where the Big Rock Pool Challenge:
National BioBlitz comes in. On 17 May
2025, we’re inviting people across the
country to explore their local shores, record
marine species, and contribute valuable data to
conservation efforts.
This event is part of the Big Rock Pool Challenge, a
project designed to make marine biodiversity recording more
accessible, competitive, and engaging. Every species found
and logged using iNaturalist earns points, and participants can
compete in friendly challenges, whether at an official BioBlitz
Battle in Falmouth or Plymouth or at their own local rock pools.
Why a National BioBlitz?
Rocky shore species play a vital role in our coastal ecosystems,
yet they are increasingly impacted by climate change,
pollution, and invasive species. By collecting data on species
distributions, we can build a clearer picture of how these
ecosystems are changing.
The National BioBlitz is timed to coincide with UK Invasive
Species Week, drawing attention to the threats posed by
marine non-native species. Through widespread participation,
we hope to track the presence and spread of species such as
the Asian shore crab (Hemigrapsus sanguineus) and wireweed
(Sargassum muticum), while also celebrating the incredible
diversity of native marine life.
How to get involved
Taking part is simple—on 17 May grab your phone, head to
your nearest rock pool, and start recording what you find
using iNaturalist—make sure you join the ‘brpc-nationalbioblitz-2025’
iNaturalist project. If you’re new to marine
species identification, don’t worry—our online resources and
expert-led training sessions in the lead-up to the event will
help you get started.
For those near Falmouth or Plymouth, our regular BioBlitz
Battle events will be running on the same day, providing a
great opportunity to experience the challenge first-hand.
Left: The invasive crab Hemigrapsus
sanguineus. Scale in centimetres. Yale
Peabody Museum, CC0, via Wikimedia
Commons.
These interactive events bring people together to compete
in teams, earning rarity points for species recorded, while
learning from expert marine biologists and conservationists.
Building a nationwide citizen science network
Beyond the excitement of the National BioBlitz, this event
is a key part of our strategy to expand The Big Rock Pool
Challenge across the UK. By October 2025, we aim to
establish six new local hubs, led by trained volunteer
leaders who will run monthly BioBlitz Battles in their local
communities.
Join the Challenge!
Whether you’re a seasoned marine biologist or a curious firsttime
rock pooler, we’d love it if you were part of this event.
Every record counts, every observation matters. Together, we
can create one of the most comprehensive snapshots of UK
rocky shore biodiversity—and have a lot of fun doing it. l
To learn more, sign up for updates, and find out how to
take part, visit www.therockpoolproject.co.uk or follow us
on Facebook, Instagram, or Linkedin.
The Big Rock Pool Challenge is proudly funded by the
ScottishPower Foundation and The National Lottery Heritage
Fund, whose generous support enables us to inspire
communities and deliver lasting environmental impact.
www.scottishpower.com/pages/the_scottishpower_
foundation.aspx
www.heritagefund.org.ukThis initiative is delivered in
partnership by The Rock Pool Project and the Marine
Biological Association.
April 2025
www.mba.ac.uk

t h e v o i c e o f m a r i n e b i o l o g y
33
MEET THE MEMBERS
A regular opportunity to find out more about members of our community.
My role
My work focuses on developing a novel antibiotic derived from
marine bacteria as a sustainable solution for the aquaculture
industry. Recently, I co-authored a review paper which explores
the potential of marine algae in pharmaceutical applications.1
My typical day
My day begins with the extraction of lipopeptides as a
novel antibiotic from marine bacteria, followed by testing
their effects on the pathogens that cause fish diseases. I
spend much of my time in the laboratory, working with
techniques such as PCR, centrifugation, gel electrophoresis,
and media preparation, to isolate and analyse the
compounds that could revolutionize disease management
in aquaculture.
Name: Sumit Kumar
MBA Membership category: Student Member
Position: Project Intern, National Institute of Ocean
Technology (NIOT), Chennai, India; pursuing a
degree in Industrial Fish and Fisheries.
Institution: Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar
University, India.
Marine biology career highlight
One of the most rewarding moments in my journey was
publishing my review paper on marine algae. Seeing
my work published and knowing it could inspire further
research in antiviral and anticancer applications has been
incredibly motivating.
www.linkedin.com/in/sumit-kumar-4a8954313/
1. A Review of Marine Algae as a Sustainable Source of Antiviral and
1 Review of Marine Algae as Sustainable Source of Antiviral and
Anticancer Compounds https://doi.org/10.3390/macromol5010011
Anticancer Compounds https://doi.org/10.3390/macromol5010011
My role
I am currently in my third year of four studying an Integrated
Masters in Marine Biology. I recently completed a semester
abroad at James Cook University in Australia and am now starting
on my masters project investigating cryptobenthic fish in
the Coral Sea Marine Park with Dr Chris Goatley.
My typical day
Even though I am a student, I usually wake up early and go to
the gym before spending the day studying or in class. Practicals
have included dissections of lampreys and small-spotted catsharks.
My final module is Marine Reproduction and we will be
looking at the early development of sea urchins. Alongside this,
I am starting on my Masters project and am excited that this will
involve some molecular work.
Marine biology career highlight
During my internship at the Kent and Essex Inshore Fisheries and
Conservation Authority (KEIFCA) in 2023, I worked on side scan
sonar analysis of Sabellaria reefs in QGIS software which contributed
towards KEIFCA introducing a byelaw banning bottom
trawling in Goodwin Sands Marine Conservation Zone.
www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-hampton/
1 A Review of Marine Algae as a Sustainable Source of Antiviral and
Anticancer Compounds https://doi.org/10.3390/macromol5010011
Meet and interact with your community of
MBA members at mymba.mba.ac.uk
Name: Daniel Hampton
MBA Membership category: Student Member
Position: 3rd year MSci Marine Biology student
Institution: University of Southampton
www.mba.ac.uk April 2025

34
t h e v o i c e o f m a r i n e b i o l o g y
IS A
PLACEMENT
YEAR FOR
YOU?
Caitlin Spence weighs up the pros and cons for
students of a work placement year.
Hi! I’m Caitlin, and I’m a third-year Marine Biology student at
Swansea University, currently on a placement year. I’d like
to share some insights into why I believe participating in a
placement year is crucial for university students, especially
in fields like marine biology.
Choosing a speciality
For marine biology students, options span the physical,
chemical, biological, and geological sectors, as well as various
global specializations: the choices can seem endless!
I entered this degree driven by a love for the oceans and a
desire to protect and conserve this vast, biodiverse realm. As
I explored the curriculum, I focused on specializing in tropical
marine biology. Coming from a background with no tropical
climate experience, I initially found the thought of spending
time in a hot, humid environment daunting—particularly since I
would miss my Sunday roasts back home!
To ease this transition, I investigated university-funded
summer abroad schemes, which led me to Fiji and Sri Lanka.
Researching what my university had to offer before starting my
degree was incredibly beneficial.
Having enjoyed both summer programmes, I knew I wanted
to secure a placement that would deepen my passion for
tropical marine biology. Balancing applications with studies
can be a handful, but remember that crafting CVs and
preparing for interviews provides valuable life experience.
Be experimental — is abroad for you?
Currently, I’m in the Seychelles working with an NGO as a
coral restoration intern. This project contributes to restoring
marine ecosystem services by rehabilitating coral reefs in the
face of climate change. It includes establishing coral farming
and nursery facilities, actively restoring degraded reefs, and
An example of a restored reef I Caitlin has been working on.
© Caitlin Spence.
Nursery-grown Pavona
spp. and Acropora
spp. corals being
transported by boat
for out-planting at a
restoration site.
© Caitlin Spence.
improving knowledge around coral restoration as a climate
adaptation strategy.
Although at the start of my placement, I have already learnt
so much about both conservation and myself. This placement
is allowing me to experiment and push myself well out of my
comfort zone: an essential step for anyone to take for their
personal growth. I have also begun developing new passions
and niches, gaining inspiration for both my dissertation
research and future career choices.
I am loving the placement, and I feel fortunate to say my
only concern is a bit of FOMO, missing my friends’ 21st
birthdays back home!
The gains
With a year of work experience in coral restoration, a growing
professional network, around 300 logged dives, and the
confidence that comes with the experience of working
abroad, I’m setting a solid foundation for my future. I’ll also
have a better understanding of whether a career in tropical
marine biology is for me. While this isn’t a magic ticket to my
dream job, it’s certainly a valuable start!
The concerns
An extra year means higher costs and an extended time until
graduation. I took out another student loan for this placement,
as most marine biology positions are unpaid. However, this
was the right decision for me. I also received grants from the
Turing Scheme and the Welsh Government to help cover my
April 2025
www.mba.ac.uk

Downtime includes plenty of
sunsets, beautiful hikes, and
BBQs. © Pauline Kaiser.
expenses. Without this financial support, I wouldn’t have been
able to pursue this opportunity.
To conclude
Ultimately, the decision to pursue a placement year is
personal. Consider whether you know what you want to do,
if you already have relevant work experience, and whether
an extra year is worthwhile. A summer placement might be
more suitable for some. Remember, you’re paying for your
university experience, so make the most of what’s available;
from summer placements to student societies, all these
opportunities can help shape your career path. l
• Caitlin Spence (caitlinspence48@icloud.com)
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www.mba.ac.uk April 2025

36
t h e v o i c e o f m a r i n e b i o l o g y
THE MARINE BIOLOGIST
EDITORIAL BOARD
Production of The Marine Biologist magazine is a team effort between the MBA Engagement Team, contributing
authors (MBA members and others), our media partner (CPLOne), and The Marine Biologist Editorial Board.
The Editorial Board is an advisory committee that meets bi-annually to give strategic advice to the Engagement Team.
The Board is made up of individuals who bring specific skills and experience, and exists to provide strategic guidance to
help maintain and improve the quality and reach of magazine to the benefit of MBA members and as a key promotional tool
for increasing membership.
Let’s meet the Board:
Sophie Stafford,
Natural History Communications Specialist
With over 25 years’
publishing experience,
Sophie is a passionate
conservation communicator.
Her deep love for animals has
led to a distinguished career,
creating communications for
both commercial and charity
clients around the globe. From
BBC Wildlife Magazine to WWF,
and the Natural History Museum
of London to the California
Academy of Science, Sophie
creates beautiful and informative
content that engages and inspires communities. A wellknown
judge of nature photography competitions around
the world, she brings the power of visual storytelling to all
her work, shining a light on conservation efforts to create
advocates for the planet.
Matthew Bunce FMBA,
Marine Affairs Consultant
Matthew completed a marine
affairs programme at the
London School of Economics
and Political Science (MSc Econ,
1992) and his PhD (ESRC-NERC
Marine Studies) research at Plymouth
University (2004–2007), focusing on
tropical marine conservation (MPA)
and island adaptative capacity.
His marine experience, notably in
the Indian Ocean, Antarctica, and
Africa, spans global insurance;
news reporting and editorial;
environmental and global risk and
security consulting; policy-oriented marine social and natural
scientific research; fisheries; climate change; international
development policy, and programme management. A former
Reuters news correspondent (Africa), media consultant, and
multidisciplinary writer, Matthew joined the MBA editorial board in
2023. He reviews for book publishers and academic journals. He is
a keen swimmer, kayaker, diver, and sailor.
Eliane Bastos Mem.MBA, PhD Researcher and Science
Education Lecturer at the University of Bath (UK)
Eliane’s research sits in the
field of ocean literacy, with
particular focus on exploring
how children understand their
relationship with the ocean
and how this is shaped by their
formal education. She has been
active in the field for over 10
years, including playing a key
role as a founding member of
the We Are Ocean collective and
on the Board of the European
Marine Science Educators
Association. Eliane is interested
in approaches that are inclusive and attend to the complex,
diverse ways humans relate to the ocean. This informs her
contribution to the Editorial Board, helping ensure the
magazine resonates and is representative across a range of
ages and backgrounds.
Peter Davies, CPLOne
Art Director
I’ve worked as an Art Director
for over 30 years, designing
consumer titles and events. I
have covered subjects as diverse
as food, lifestyle and home,
technology, and fashion and I
was also involved in The Ideal
Home Show and in designing for
a number of award ceremonies.
More recently, I have had the
pleasure of redesigning and art
directing The Marine Biologist,
which has been an incredibly
rewarding experience and has
given me a renewed interest in our marine biodiversity. I love
being in the sea around Cornwall, surfing or swimming or
just walking the beaches and cliff tops. As an artist, painting
in those locations brings me a deep appreciation of what we
must work hard to protect.
April 2024
www.mba.ac.uk

01_Cover_MarineBiologist31_2024.indd 1 01/08/2024 12:11
r e a d e r s ' s u r v e y 37
READER'S SURVEY: SHAPING THE
FUTURE OF YOUR MAGAZINE
The Marine Biologist provides our community with a
platform to be seen and heard, and is one of the key
ways in which the Marine Biological Association can
inspire and influence society for the good of the ocean.
ISSUE 31 JULY 2024
ISSN 2052-5273
THE MAGAZINE OF THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL COMMUNITY
ISSUE 31 JULY 2024
ISSN 2052-5273
THE MAGAZINE OF THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL COMMUNITY
ISSUE 34 APRIL 2025
ISSN 2052-5273
Your views count
Thanks largely to MBA members, we are regarded
as the ‘go to’ magazine for marine biology in the UK
and internationally. However, as with every aspect of
our membership offer, we are always looking for ways
to improve.
So that we can meet the evolving needs of our
community, we need to know what works, what
doesn’t, and what you would like to see more of.
BLue carbon
special issue
THE GLOBAL NEED TO MAINTAIN
THIS IMPORTANT ECOSYSTEM
LIFE
&DEATH
SLOW
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IN THE
THE MAGAZINE OF THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL COMMUNITY
The readers' survey prize draw
By completing our survey, you are not only helping
to improve your magazine, you are also automatically
entered into a prize draw to win books and book
tokens up to a whopping £100.
Please scan the QR code to access the readers’ survey.
Survey closes 15 June 2025.
JMBA welcomes submissions of original
research and reviews on all aspects of
marine biology.
Members of the Marine Biological Association
are entitled to a 20% discount on the Article
Processing Charge (APC) for gold open access
publication in JMBA.
• The official journal of the MBA
• Marine Biodiversity Records has now merged
with the Journal
• JMBA has moved to an Online Only and
Continuous Publication model.
JMBA is a hybrid journal so authors are able to
choose whether to publish their article under a
subscription-access model or as gold open access.
MBA members affiliated with one of over 2,000
institutions around the world may be eligible to
publish open access at no cost via the Publisher’s
institutional agreements. If not eligible, the
Article Processing Charge for gold open access
publication is discounted to £1,968 / $2,840 plus
any applicable taxes (a saving of £400/$600).
Please see the website for details. Submit your
article: mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jmba
cambridge.org/mbi
www.mba.ac.uk April 2025

38
r e v i e w s
REVIEWS
MBA members review the latest marine biology
books, films, and podcasts.
ANTARCTIC WHALING: A CASE
STUDY IN NEAR EXTINCTION
BROWN SEAWEEDS (PHAEOPHYCEAE) OF BRITAIN
AND IRELAND
Author: Robert L. Fletcher
ISBN: 9781784272470
Format: Hardback, 816 pages
Published by: Pelagic Publishing
Brown Seaweeds is an indispensable, comprehensive, illustrated
guide to all the brown seaweeds of Britain and Ireland. The
author has an extensive research and publication track record on
marine algae, which is evident in the level of detail provided in the
taxonomic information and the images presented in this guide.
The informative Introduction provides a wealth of information on
the biology and ecology of Phaeophyceae, covering details on the
physiological structure, reproduction, and life histories, along with
notes on the floristics and systematics of brown algae. The Keys
to Genera section contains useful and relevant terminology, and
the Full Generic Key provides a useful starting point from which to
commence the process of identifying species. In the Taxonomic
Treatment section, the reader is provided with detailed information
on each species, with accompanying macrophotographic and
microscopic images to facilitate accurate identification.
There are over 300 plates of original line drawings and
photographs which are indispensable in the identification of the
Phaeophyceae. Each species entry is an informative yet succinct
resource of information on the morphology, cytology, anatomy,
life history, reproduction, habitats, biogeographic distribution,
synonomy, and systematics, which provides sufficient detail to
enable accurate identification.
Professor Juliet Brodie’s editorial role provides additional
confidence that this is the authoritative guide to the Phaeophyceae
of Britain and Ireland. This long-awaited guide is likely to be
extremely well received by the research community and should
also prove an invaluable resource to marine botany students who
are starting out on their journey into the taxonomic identification of
marine algae.
• Dr Nova Mieszkowska Mem.MBA
Authors: John Sheail, Paul Rodhouse, and
John Dudeney
ISBN: 9781789182415
Format: Hardback, 350 pages
Published by: 5M Books
The front cover illustration by one of the
authors, Paul Rodhouse, well depicts the
juxtaposition of human impact and nature’s
ability to recover. This in-depth case study
helps us to better understand the complexities,
politics, and dynamics at play during an era of
aggressive Antarctic whaling, which may seem
so foreign to our current 21st century perspective.
World War I brought about opportunities for
technological development and challenges to
whaling, which, ironically, contributed in part
towards the recovery of whale populations.
The ensuing Discovery Investigations were to
become some of the most sustained whale
research the world had ever seen, and the data
and understanding gained supported and
echoed the voices of those concerned for the
future of whale populations.
Antarctic Whaling tells the incredible story
of evolution of the whaling industry, whale
research, and remarkable population recovery.
This is all played out within a relatively short period
of time, and yet the results show demonstrable
positive progress. That isn’t to say there
are not still pressures on the Southern Ocean,
but with the right collective commitment, perseverance,
understanding, and willingness to
change, anything is possible.
This is a well put together, fact-packed tome
that explains the past century’s whaling crisis
and population recovery. It clearly shares
how, with drive and determination, research,
legislation, and multiple pieces of the jigsaw
(with some unexpected players), once pieced
together, can generate rapid change.
• Maya Plass Mem.MBA
April 2025
www.mba.ac.uk

r e v i e w s 39
BEAUTIFUL SHELLS
Author: Mark Carnall
ISBN: 9781851246168
Format: Hardback, 192 pages
Published by: Bodleian Library Publishing
Beautiful Shells is
a reproduction
of George Perry’s
Conchology, or, the
Natural History of
Shells (1811). It is a
well written, insightful
book, which is both
educational and entertaining.
The volume
highlights Perry’s
intricate and vibrant
engravings, which not
only showcase the
beauty and diversity
of marine life but also
reflect the evolving scientific
understanding of the time.
The review of Perry’s work celebrates the
meticulous craftsmanship of his illustrations, which are as
visually appealing as they are valuable as a scientific record.
It also provides insight into Perry’s life and the influence of his
work on the field of conchology, emphasizing the intersection
of art, science, and discovery.
While the illustrations are the star of the show, Carnall
seamlessly incorporates scientific information in a manner
which is accessible to readers from all backgrounds. This
book is perfect for those interested in natural history, marine
biology, and who are generally interested in marine life.
• Phoebe Barratt
PLANKTON: A WORLDWIDE GUIDE
Authors: Tom Jackson and Jennifer Parker
ISBN: 9780691255996
Format: Hardback, 224 pages
Published by: Princeton University Press
Plankton: a Worldwide Guide manages
to cover most aspects of this vast
and important group of plants and
animals. The foreword by the consultant
editor, Professor Andrew Hirst, eloquently sets
out the inextricable link between plankton and humans. He
highlights the many wonderful pictures throughout the guide
that demonstrate how nature uses great art to overcome the
challenges of living adrift in the ocean.
The six chapters cover plankton diversity, adaptations,
feeding, breeding, and their role in the food chain. The last
chapter, ‘What the Future May Hold’, is important as it highlights
our impact (pollution, climate change, etc.) on plankton and
where these impacts have already been seen. There is inclusion
of several species’ profiles at the end of each chapter.
Covering such a vast topic must have been a challenge.
I felt, however, that a few things were missing: the lovely
photos and descriptions of jellyfish felt unbalanced in
comparison to those of copepods, where only one species
had a profile page and the photo of that was relatively
poor. A better picture/description of the feeding houses of
Appendicularians could have provided a fantastic example of
feeding adaptation, and pictures of the Continuous Plankton
Recorder survey silks would have provided a great visual
example of how important long-term sampling programmes
can be.
In conclusion, this lovely book is a good overall guide and
would happily grace any marine biologist or keen amateur’s
bookshelf.
• Tania FitzGeorge-Balfour Mem.MBA
SHARKPEDIA
Author: Daniel C. Abel
ISBN: 9780691252612
Format: Hardback, 176 pages
Published by: Princeton
University Press
Sharkpedia is an enlightening and
interesting compendium of all-round
knowledge about sharks. Abel is a professor
of marine science and an award-winning
environmental columnist, committed to
environmental sustainability and shark
conservation. As its name suggests, the book
is laid out like an encyclopedia, with entries
in alphabetical order. It is not only aimed at scientists;
it also has a cultural approach and is accessible to all levels.
Beautiful, realistic, classic ink-style drawings by Marc Dando
accompany the text, giving extra information and added
appeal to the reading.
There are a couple of things that I felt were missing. One
is a list of scientific names corresponding to the English
common names (or the scientific name in brackets
beside the common one). If English is not your first
language, it is probable that you know these
sharks by a different name, so you need to
search to find which species is being
discussed. The drawings do not have
in-text references. They are well placed
close to the corresponding entry, but some
readers might find it difficult to link drawings to the
appropriate text.
Summing up, I think Sharkpedia is delightful reading,
perfect for commuting, travelling, and leisure time.
• Dr Loreto Gestoso Mem.MBA
www.mba.ac.uk April 2025

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