New Study: Pteropods Provide Early Insight Into Changing Ocean Conditions
Scientists have new information about how pteropods, tiny marine creatures so important to food webs they’re known as the “potato chips of the sea,” may fare under compounding environmental stressors.“We found that changing ocean conditions affect pteropods in multiple, overlapping ways, some of which could also be detrimental for long-term pteropod population sustainability ” Nina Bednaršek, a biological oceanographer at Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center and the paper’s lead author, says.
Here’s what we stand to lose from NOAA funding cuts
Jan Newton, co-director of the Washington Ocean Acidification Center and executive director and principal investigator at NANOOS, was quoted in the article.
Agenda Announced! Join the 2025 Ocean Acidification Symposium
The Washington Ocean Acidification Center is pleased to announce our 4th Biennial Washington Ocean Acidification Science Symposium. This one-day event will be held May 28, 2025 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The Pacific Northwest-focused Ocean Acidification Symposium Returns!
Register now and join us for our one-day symposium on May 23 2023 at Wisteria Hall, located at the Graham Visitor Center of the Washington Park Arboretum.
WOAC Co-Director Jan Newton wins Marine Technology Society Award
Congratulations to Jan Newton for receiving the 2022 Lockheed Martin Award for Ocean Science and Engineering, courtesy of the Marine Technology Society (MTS)! This award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated the highest degree of technical accomplishment in the field of marine science, engineering, or technology.
No “Safe Space” for 12 key ocean species on North American West Coast
For the generations who grew up watching Finding Nemo, it might not come as a surprise that the West Coast has our own version of the underwater ocean highway – the California Current marine ecosystem (CCME). New research led by Dr. Jennifer Sunday from McGill University and Dr. Terrie Klinger from the Washington Ocean Acidification Center within EarthLab at the University of Washington warns that climate impacts will significantly affect twelve economically and culturally important species home to the CCME over the next 80 years.
UN Ocean Conference Side Event | “Ocean Acidification: Co-designing data connections to underserved communities for equitable outcomes”
The University of Washington’s Washington Ocean Acidification Center and Ocean Nexus Center are hosting a side event “Ocean Acidification: Co-designing data connections to underserved communities for equitable outcomes” during the United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, on June 30th, 2022. The event will highlight successful partnerships with Indigenous, Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and other underserved communities on co-designing activities for adaptation and response strategies.
Pacific herring, an important food source for salmon, show sensitivity to marine heatwaves
Pacific herring are known as one of the ‘great fishes of the North Pacific Ocean’ as they are inextricably connected via complex food webs and overlapping habitats with Pacific salmon species, such as Chinook and Coho, sea lions and orcas. Despite the importance of Pacific herring, the consequences of climate change and ocean acidification on this species remain poorly understood. The Washington Ocean Acidification Center (WOAC) would like to change that. WOAC postdoctoral researcher Chris Murray is the lead author on a new paper, which investigated how Pacific herring respond to the co-occurring stressors of high temperatures and increased levels of CO2. The paper was published in the Journal of Experimental Biology on March 10, 2022
KING 5: Salish Sea providing a ‘window’ into the future of ocean acidification
The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is currently studying whether crabs could be impacted by ocean acidification, a process some scientists say Puget Sound is particularly susceptible to. Alex Gagnon, a researcher with the Washington Ocean Acidification Center, discusses the science behind greenhouse gasses, ocean acidification and the important crab industry in Washington state.
Researcher Profile: Chris Murray
Washington Ocean Acidification Center postdoc Chris Murray was featured in Current Tidings, a newsletter from the Shannon Point Marine Center at Western Washington University.
