Marine Biology (FISH250) is the core class for the College of the Environment Marine Biology Minor, where students learn principles of oceanography, biology, physiology and reproduction of marine taxa. The course focuses on the adaptations organisms need to thrive in their marine environments. The class includes active student discussion, class polls, and the opportunity to experience and experiment with key concepts in the laboratory section and fun field trips to Friday Harbor, Alki Beach (night low tide), Ocean Shores and others. 

There is potential to increase ocean catches by 14% and ocean profits from fishing by 79%, by rebuilding overfished stocks, fishing more on under-fished populations, and improving fisheries with little effective management. The new research was published in Marine Policy by SAFS professor Ray Hilborn and UCSB professor Christopher Costello. 

A new study looks at clams and mussels in five estuaries in Puget Sound, and finds that alterations to river flow, landscape connectivity among adjacent habitat types, or the type and supply of suspended organic matter (detritus), can disrupt food webs at the scale of entire landscapes. Clams and mussels, which cannot move to track food sources, are particularly affected by climate variability, levee systems, water diversion from estuaries, and dwindling availability of detritus due to loss of tidal marsh wetlands. 

A new paper in Ecological Indicators by Hannah Linder and SAFS professor John Horne examines a wide range of statistical methods for detecting and forecasting change from monitoring studies. They found that different classes of models are needed to detect change, and to forecast the future effects of interventions such as building marine tidal turbines. 

A front page investigative CNN article outlines how the Environmental Protection Agency reversed a decision to protect the most valuable salmon fishery in the world, giving the go-ahead for the Pebble Mine, one hour after the head met with the CEO of the Pebble Mine partnership. SAFS professor Thomas Quinn comments in the report: “This is the jewel in the crown of America’s fisheries resources – these salmon. 

Fishing can substantially alter when fish migrate and when they breed, says a new review in Fish and Fisheries by SAFS student Michael Tillotson and faculty member Thomas Quinn. For example, fishing closures may increase fishing on late breeders, resulting in a greater proportion of early breeders in the population. Such changes can exacerbate the effects of climate-driven changes in the timing of migration and breeding. 

Science magazine reports that faculty members Luke Tournabene and Adam Summers have a new mission in life: CT scanning all the vertebrates in the world, with fish and frogs well on their way. All the scans will be made freely available for researchers to have access to unprecedented 3-D images of the skeletal structure of 80% of all vertebrates.

A CT scan of a pirañha (Serrasalmus medinai), picture by Adam Summers and Matthew Kolman 

Faculty member Julian Olden and others in ChronicleVitae urge scientists to see their careers as “an adventure on a long and winding path” that involves interacting with nature and making their science relevant. Instead of focusing on publishing small units of science, we should be embracing the spirit of discovery and striving for societal impact. 

Citizen scientists in a program run by Julia Parrish provided data about two mass die-offs of seabirds on the outer coast of Washington state, which is the largest mass death ever to be definitively ascribed to harmful algal blooms. The new report was authored by SAFS postdoc Timothy Jones, with other SAFS contributions from Julia Parrish, André Punt, and Jennifer Lang, as part of the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST; a citizen science program at the University of Washington). 

Preview of the 2016 Eastern Bering Sea Pollock Stock Assessment
Please see flier for information about the upcoming Preview of the 2016 Eastern Bering Sea Pollock Stock Assessment at SAFS.
Nov. 9, 2016, 4:00 – 5:30 PM; Reception to follow.