In Darwin's footsteps: Jessica Meeuwug at The University of Western Australia

A marine researcher at The University of Western Australia (UWA) has been appointed a Conservation Fellow of the Zoological Society of London - a society that appointed Charles Darwin a Fellow in 1837.

Professor Jessica Meeuwig, of UWA's Centre for Marine Futures, Oceans Institute and School of Animal Biology, joins one of the world's oldest scientific societies.

Established by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1826, the Zoological Society of London is renowned for its breeding programs for endangered species and work in field conservation programs in more than 50 countries.

Professor Meeuwig's main expertise is in marine and fisheries conservation and quantitative modelling.

Her research group works across a range of animals and includes projects such as investigating the displacement of humpback whales as a result of coastal development; researching how large sharks and fish use underwater banks and canyons; and how marine sanctuaries generate ecological and economic benefits.

She has worked around the world in places as diverse as the Baltic to the South China Sea and Western Australia. She is a keen science communicator and believes in the important role scientists can play in public debate.

Only a small number of Conservation Fellows are appointed to the Society each year. They are people who have made exceptional contributions to conservation.

Professor Meeuwig said she was delighted to accept the appointment, given the society's global contributions to conservation, both terrestrially and in marine environment.

"It is somewhat daunting to be part of such a distinguished society with its deep and early roots in the conservation sector and reputation for scientific integrity, but I am delighted to have access to the facilities and be part of the Society's scientific community and strengthen international collaborations," she said.

The Society has had a long involvement in the marine environment with sites such as the Indian Ocean's Chagos Archipelago, about 500 km south of the Maldives. The archipelago is the world's largest, fully protected marine sanctuary and Professor Meeuwig and her team, with researchers from the Society, will join an international expedition there later this year.

Darwin's appointment to the Zoological Society of London was made after his five-year expedition on HMS Beagle, during which, as a 22-year-old, he circumnavigated the globe, collecting samples and observations which would enable him to write On the Origin of Species, published in 1859.

Media references

Professor Jessica Meeuwig (UWA Oceans Institute) (+61 8) 6488 1464 / (+61 4) 00 024 999
Michael Sinclair-Jones (UWA Public Affairs) (+61 8) 6488 3229 / (+61 4) 00 700 783

UK Scientists find New Extreme Life at Deep Sea Volcanic Vent - Yeti Crabs

British scientists have discovered an astonishing range of creatures living in one of the most inhospitable regions of the deep sea.

Researchers have been exploring and taking samples from the "Dragon Vent" in the south-west Indian Ocean when they found yeti crabs, sea cucumbers and snails living around the volcanic underwater vents.

According to Dr. Jon Copley, a marine biologist at the University of Southampton who led the expedition said the animals are unique to the region and hasn't been seen in neighboring parts of the ocean.

"We found a new type of yeti crab. Yeti crabs are known at vents in the Eastern Pacific and there are two species described so far, but they have very long, hairy arms - ours have short arms and their undersides are covered in bristles.

They're quite different to the ones that are known from the Pacific," said Copley. "This is the first time a Yeti crab has been seen in the Indian Ocean."

The team also found sea cucumbers, vent shrimps and scaly-foot snails. Sea cucumbers have been previously found at deep sea vents in the Eastern Pacific. This is the first time they've been seen at vents in the Indian Ocean.

Deep-sea vents are fissures in the ocean floor that spew out hot, mineral-rich water. Despite the high temperatures, many species thrive at hydrothermal vents.

The Southampton team were interested in the vents on the South West Indian Ridge because they link back to the Mid Atlantic Ridge and the Central Indian Ridge where deep sea life has been recorded.

This part of the volcanic ridge is also unusual because it's less volcanically active so hydrothermal vents are fewer and more scattered.

The expedition set off from Cape Town on November 7 and returned to South Africa on December 21. The team explored the Dragon Vent for three days and took hundreds of samples of 17 different creatures.

The specimens are now being examined through morphological and genetic testing to determine if they are new species.

Exploring the hydrothermal vents are important because they offer a variety of species that have never been seen before.

"Just like the 19th century naturalists used to go to the Galápagos and other islands to find species there that are different to elsewhere and then use that to understand patterns of dispersal of dispersal and evolution, we can use deep-sea vents to do the same things beneath the waves," Copley said.

"And we need to do that because the exploitation of the deep ocean is overtaking its exploration. We're fishing in deeper and deeper waters, oil and gas is moving into deeper waters and now there's mining starting to take place in deep waters.

We need to understand how species disperse and evolve in the deep oceans if we're going to make responsible decisions about managing their resources."

Artist's concept of the Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft, a collaboration between NASA and Argentina's space agency, with participation from Brazil, Canada, France and Italy. 

Aquarius, the NASA-built primary instrument on the spacecraft, will take NASA's first space-based measurements of ocean surface salinity, a key missing variable in satellite observations of Earth that links ocean circulation, the global balance of freshwater and climate.

Image credit: NASA

NASA's Aquarius instrument has successfully completed its commissioning phase and is now "tasting" the saltiness of Earth's ocean surface, making measurements from its perch in near-polar orbit.

"This marks the end of the long odyssey to design, build and launch this mission, and the start of a new journey of scientific exploration," said Aquarius Principal Investigator Gary Lagerloef of Earth and Space Research, Seattle.

"Scientists from around the world are ready and waiting to study this important new satellite measurement for ocean and climate research."


Aquarius will make NASA's first space observations of the salinity, or concentration of salt, at the ocean surface, a key variable in satellite studies of Earth.

Variations in salinity influence the ocean's deep circulation, outline the path freshwater takes around our planet and help drive Earth's climate.

The Aquarius science team will spend the coming months analyzing and calibrating the measurements and releasing preliminary data.

With the Aquarius instrument commissioning now complete, the SAC-D Instruments Flight Operations Teams, together with the SAC-D Mission Flight Operations Team in Argentina, are now engaged in commissioning the other seven SAC-D instruments.

Once all the observatory instruments are commissioned, a maneuver will be conducted to place Aquarius/SAC-D in its final orbit, 408 miles (657 kilometers) above Earth.

Song Pitch Of Blue Whale Songs Is Declining Around The World

The sound level of songs blue whales sing across the vast expanses of the ocean to attract potential mates has been steadily creeping downward for the past few decades, and a scientist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and his colleagues believe the trend may be good news for the population of the endangered marine mammal.

Mark McDonald of WhaleAcoustics in Bellvue, Colo., along with John Hildebrand of Scripps Oceanography and Sarah Mesnick of NOAA Fisheries Southwest Fisheries Science Center studied blue whale song data from around the world and discovered a downward curve in the pitch, or frequency, of the songs.

The decline was tracked in blue whales across the globe, from off the Southern California coast to the Indian and Southern Oceans.

"The basic style of singing is the same, the tones are there, but the animal is shifting the frequency down over time. The more recent it is, the lower the frequency the animal is singing in, and we have found that in every song we have data for," said Hildebrand, a professor of oceanography in the Marine Physical Laboratory at Scripps.

The study's results are published in the most recent issue of the journal Endangered Species Research.

The researchers examined a list of possible causes for the frequency drop-from climate change to a rise in human-produced ocean noise-and believe it may be explained by the increase of blue whale numbers following bans on commercial whaling activities.

While the function of blue whale songs is not known and scientists have much more to learn, they do know that all singers have been determined to be males and that the high-intensity, or loud, and low-frequency songs propagate long distances across the ocean. Blue whales are widely dispersed during the breeding season and it is likely that songs function to advertise which species is singing and the location of the singing whale.

In the heyday of commercial whaling, as blue whale numbers plummeted, it may have been advantageous for males to sing higher frequency songs, the researchers believe, in order to maximize their transmission distance and their ability to locate potential mates (females) or competitors (other males).

"It may be that when (blue whale) densities go up, it's not so far to get to the closest female, whereas back when they were depleted it may have been that the closest female was a long way away," said Hildebrand.

In the 1960s, when blue whale numbers were substantially reduced and recordings of the animals were first made, there may have been a tradeoff in which the male suitors chose to sing higher frequencies that were louder and heard over greater distances, Hildebrand said. In more recent years, as population sizes have increased, it may now be more advantageous for males to sing songs that are lower in frequency rather than louder.

"When they make these songs they need to use most of the air in their lungs," said Hildebrand. "It's like an opera singer that sees how long he can hold a note. The (male) songs are made to impress the females and/or other males, so I think that's how the boy blue whales are impressing the girls, or are showing off to other boys: by making a loud and long song."

The scientists say the same downward pitch phenomenon may be true in other whales such as fin and humpbacks, but the blue whale song, with a comparatively easier song to analyze, is a good springboard to study other species. Hildebrand says such knowledge about whale songs could be important in monitoring whale populations and recovery efforts.

During the study the researchers analyzed thousands of blue whale songs divided into at least 10 worldwide regions. These include the Northeast, Southwest and Northwest Pacific Ocean; the North Atlantic; the Southern Ocean near Antarctica; and the North and Southeast Indian Ocean.

Blue whale songs have been recorded for the last 45 years through scientific and military applications by seafloor seismometers tracking regional earthquakes and dedicated whale acoustic recording packages.

In addition to NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service's Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Mesnick is affiliated with Scripps' Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation.

This research was funded by the U.S. Navy, NOAA and the National Science Foundation.