Project Uses DNA to Combat Illegal Trade of Aquatic Wildlife
, a new project to detect illegal trade in sharks and other marine and freshwater wildlife provides a vital tool in the global effort to reverse the decline of vulnerable and endangered species on our planet. Led by Dr. Diego Cardeñosa of Florida International University and Dr. Demian Chapman of Mote Marine Laboratory, the development and deployment of their “DNA Toolkit” in Latin America, Europe, and Southeast Asia is a much-needed breakthrough to combat illegal trafficking in shark, eel, turtle, tuna, and other wildlife products.“With the help of OCEARCH and other partners we are working
How Microbes Reflect the Health of Coral Reefs
reefs in the face of habitat and climate-based change.The study was published in the journal Environmental Microbiology on December 13. Co-authors of the paper include colleagues from CIM-UH, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science, Mote Marine Laboratory, and the University of California, Santa Barbara. For more information, visit Amy Apprill's lab.Funding for this work was provided by OceanX and the National Science Foundation.Nearshore reefs in the heavily-impacted Florida Keys show unhealthier corals and less marine life. This mountainous
Protecting Migrating Whale Sharks off Mexican Coast
Mexican NGO “Ch’ooj Ajauil AC” (Blue Realm), American NGO Seacology and the scientific community, including Mote Marine Laboratory and Georgia Aquarium, have joined forces to urge a change in a traffic lane so as to avoid the risk of large vessels traveling through the whale shark migration path colliding with marine wildlife off the Isla Mujeres, Mexico. They expain as follows: These vessels are not only endangering lives of tourists visiting the area but also the whale shark, the world’s largest fish. All parties are working together to propose shifting ship traffic lanes to
February 2024
