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Sea Change contributes to The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO initiative on One Planet, One Ocean ahead of the UN Ocean Conference.

See the excellent introduction video:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk8o6uYakz8

or download the brochure from the UNESCO Web site

The Ocean and You

New research in the MBA's online open-access journal Marine Biodiversity Records reveals a new species of seadragon in the Recherche Archipelago, Western Australia.

From the abstract: "Until recently, only two species of seadragon were known, Phycodurus eques (the leafy seadragon) and Phyllopteryx taeniolatus (the common seadragon), both from Australia. In 2015, we described a new species of seadragon, Phyllopteryx dewysea (the ruby seadragon)."

Read the article here .

A short video promoting the facilities and collections of the National Marine Biological Library, located at the Marine Biological Association, to local university students. Find out more at www.nmbl.org

In recently published research, MBA scientists surveyed kelp forests at 12 sites in four regions around the UK to quantify ecological structure at multiple spatial scales.

Subtidal forests of kelps and other canopy-forming macroalgae represent critically important marine habitats. Kelp forests exhibit high rates of primary productivity, magnified secondary productivity, support high levels of biodiversity and provide various ecosystem services. Despite their recognised importance, kelp forests around the UK have been largely understudied compared with many other regions.

The highlights from this research include:

The sea surface microlayer (SML) is the boundary layer between the atmosphere and ocean, and even though it is less than one millimetre thick, it controls exchange between the atmosphere and the ocean. The Cunliffe Group are collaborators in a multidisciplinary study dedicated to better understanding the sea surface microlayer and air-sea interactions and which link diverse scientific approaches including atmospheric deposition, aerosol chemistry, gas and heat exchange, sea surfaces as microbiological habitats, and the application of new technologies for in situ surveys.

Kimberley Bird, PhD Student with the Cunliffe Laboratory at the MBA recently took part in the Air to Sea cruise in the South Pacific to collect and filter seawater samples from the SML, underlying surface bulk water and water column for analysis back in Plymouth using a combination of traditional microbiology...