Mid-West 'In Hot Water' Community Seminars
The Department of Fisheries WA, in conjunction with Redmap, will be holding a series of community seminars in Geraldton and Leeman on the impacts of the 2010/11 marine heatwave on the Mid-West coast.
Redmap video competition
Make a 45-sec video about Redmap and raise awareness of ocean warming. There are $5,000 in cash prizes to be won! Anyone can enter and any style of video is welcome. So get on your creative caps and submit your 45-sec video by 1 May 2014! See competition details here.
Tropical fisheries to be hardest hit
Climate change will force marine species from tropical to mid and high latitudes by the middle of this century, according to a new report by the IPCC. Read the full UTas article here.
Redmap April newsletter
This edition covers Redmap's video competition, our oddest-looking sightings (like warty prowfish and yellow sea slugs), and other marine news. Read it here.
Top 6 Oddest Sightings
A yellow sea slug, warty prowfish and roundbelly cowfish all made it onto Redmap’s Top 6 Oddest Sightings. Check out this completely subjective list – and what the scientists have to say about them.
How do we measure the ocean?
Marine scientists are measuring properties like temperature and salinity in oceans around the world using 3,500 robotic floats as part of the Argo project. IMOS has produced a stop-start animation about the Argo floats to inspire children about marine science. Watch it here.
Townsville study: will fish flee the equator?
Rapid climate change may drive fish from the equator, say Australian scientists at James Cook University in UPI. Read the full article here.
Mud crabs march south
As recently as 2000, the chance of stumbling upon a mud crab south of Western Australia’s Shark Bay was remote. Now there are reports of mud crabs in every major south-western estuary. In fact, mud crabs have even been seen as far south as Denmark’s Wilson Inlet, over 1,000 km south of their historical distribution.
Redmap's famous sighting: Steven Sealberg
An elephant seal camping on a Perth beach has received thousands of visitors, hundreds of Twitter followers and the title "Steven Sealberg" (decided by online pole). The 2000kg seal, more at home in sub-Antarctic islands, has been logged on Redmap here. Read more about the seal in PerthNow.
Something's fishy along our coasts
Large fish have disappeared from vast tracts of the Australian coast, writes The Guardian. The Reef Life Survey has shown how climate change looms as greatest of marine threats, which also includes fishing pressures and pollution. Read the full article here.