Latest news with #IMAS
ABC News
18-05-2025
- Science
- ABC News
Fish believed to be sardines or pilchards wash up in the hundreds in Hobart
Hundreds of small, dead fish seen floating and washing ashore on the River Derwent near Hobart on Saturday have raised concerns with some local residents. The fish, seen along the shore between Crayfish Point in Taroona and Long Beach in Sandy Bay, are believed to be pilchards or sardines. David Boyles lives by the water in the Hobart suburb of Sandy Bay and has fished in the Derwent River for years. Mr Boyles said on Saturday morning he noticed "little shiny, white-looking things on the rocks down below our house". Along with the dead fish seen on the rocks, Mr Boyles said, "were hundreds if not thousands more, just floating in the water, dead". He said he was distressed to see that about a third of the third appeared to be bleeding from their gills and vent, leading him to think it was "some kind of toxic event". He said a man kayaking on the river towards Hobart told him there were many more down river. The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and Institute of Marine Antarctic Science (IMAS) have been contacted for comment. Independent water scientist Christine Coughanowr has spent years monitoring the River Derwent. For 20 years, she led the Derwent Estuary Program, which focuses on monitoring and restoring water quality of the estuary. Ms Coughanow said while the incident had worried some, it was too early to draw conclusions. "I think really that raises in some ways more questions than it answers." She said it was still unknown if other marine species were impacted, and how widespread the issue was. "I think really the key question is for those who have the ability to assess this, the EPA and the fish health authorities, to get the samples and do the necessary analysis to find out what's going on," Ms Coughanowr said.
ABC News
01-05-2025
- Science
- ABC News
Something is happening with the southern right whale population, scientists say
Australia's southern right whale population growth has stalled, raising questions about the recovery of a species that was nearly driven to extinction by historical whaling, according to a new study. Southern right whales are large migratory baleen whales that can be spotted off the Australian coastline in winter as they travel north. The whales come close to shore, which made them ideal, or "right", for whaling in the 1800s. "Around the early 1900s, there were so few individuals left that certainly around Australia and New Zealand they were considered extinct," Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies postgraduate researcher Anne Grundlehner said. Only a few hundred remained worldwide when whaling the species was banned. The researchers found the annual abundance of calves showed strong growth from 1976 until at least 2010, but began to stagnate around 2016-2017. ( Supplied: Joshua Smith ) The Australian population has experienced significant growth since the late 1970s, with very rough population estimates now around 2,000-3,500. But a new study by researchers from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Science (IMAS), the University of Tasmania and the Australian Antarctic Division has found their population recovery seems to have recently stalled at a level far below pre-whaling levels, and questions whether it might be the "end of an era for southern right whale recovery". The study, published in the journal Global Change Biology, analysed aerial survey data from 2,000 kilometres of coastline between Augusta in Western Australia and Ceduna in South Australia, collected between 1976 and 2024. The researchers found the annual abundance of calves showed strong growth from 1976 until at least 2010. But they found annual births began to stagnate around 2016-2017. "We were very concerned to find not only slowed growth in births in this population, but an actual halt and what looks like the onset of a decline," Dr Grundlehner, the report's lead author said. She said the population's current size was estimated to be about 16 per cent of its pre-whaling abundance. "But likely even less, as this is a pragmatic estimate because there is much uncertainty around pre-whaling levels. "The fact that the growth in annual births has halted, while the population size is well below pre-whaling abundance, is a pretty big finding. " We are very certain that the southern right whale abundance around Australia is by far not what it used to be. " Industrial whaling decimated the population of a number of whale species throughout the 1800s. ( Offshore whaling with the Aladdin and Jane, painting by William Duke, 1849 ) The causes behind the stalling population growth is not clear. "We really need to study all the potential drivers, one by one, to understand their effects on right whales' survival and reproduction, and see if we can find any relationship between potential drivers and the species births and the worrying trends we found in their abundance around Australia," Dr Grundlehner said. "Because this species is considered endangered in Australian waters, understanding the causes behind the stalling population growth will be critical to inform appropriate conservation actions," IMAS researcher and co-author associate professor Stuart Corney said. " The Southern Ocean ecosystem must have substantially changed in response to the large-scale removal of whales in the past. " Dr Grundlehner said climate change and other human pressures on marine environments could also be playing a role.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Aussies amazed by adorable video of extremely rare species: 'Very cute'
Adorable footage of one of the world's rarest and most unusual ocean creatures has left thousands of Aussies swooning. In the short clip, two tiny red handfish — a critically endangered type of angler fish only found in Tasmania — can be seen using their distinctive fins to walk across grains of sand. After coming face-to-face, the roughly two-centimetre juveniles appear to greet each other by waving the long filaments sprouting from their heads, otherwise known as an illicium. However, that's not entirely the case, Dr Andrew Trotter, a senior research fellow at the University of Tasmania's Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), told Yahoo News Australia on Friday. 'They're essentially fighting over a cookie,' he said, explaining that a small isopod was lingering in-between the 'very cute' red handfish, which are part of a captive breeding program aimed at bringing the species back from the brink of extinction. The pair have a short standoff before the one on the left scores the snack. The juveniles seen in the video, which has been viewed almost 100,000 times, are part of a group of 232 hatchlings born late last year. With only an estimated 70 to 100 red handfish surviving in the wild in two reef locations near Hobart, the IMAS, working with the Foundation for Australia's Most Endangered Species (FAME), have vowed not to let the species disappear despite the continued threats of pollution, climate change, a booming native sea urchin population and loss in vital seagrasses, on which they lay their eggs. Of the 232 red handfish that hatched in December, Trotter said a few have sadly died, but the 97 per cent remaining are expected to be released sometime in October. 'We're over the moon with how they've survived this time,' the expert says, adding a few even have 'stand out personalities'. 'One we've got is a really spotty red handfish and he's got real attitude,' he laughed. 🐠 Major discovery about weird Australian fish: 'Huge promise' 📸 Rare photograph captures ocean creature not seen in 27 years 🌊 Hatching of 232 tiny creatures provides glimmer of hope The group of juveniles are now undergoing conditioning so they not only survive, but thrive in the wild and reproduce on their own. The appropriately nicknamed 'handfish school' involves phases of introducing other animals and live macro algae, 'rather than just exposing them straight to all the microorganisms that are in the environment'. Trotter said everyone involved in the conservation project is 'hopeful' the hatchlings will survive and make it maturity, which takes three years, but an ideal habitat is key. 'We've got issues with habitat loss at both of the sites that we're concentrating on — the historical sites — so we need to make sure that they go out fit and robust and well equipped,' he told Yahoo. 'But obviously [we have to] make sure that the habitat out there is appropriate, and we're working on putting seagrass back at the sites, because we know that seagrass is an important part of the habitat, and that we've lost quite a lot of it at both of the sites.' Researchers are also looking for reefs that have similar conditions as alternative sites for translocation. 'We want to have our eggs in more than two baskets. We're not going to go back to those historical sites where they're locally extinct because we think there's a good reason why those sites are not as good, and want the sites to be more similar to the two sites where they've persisted for millennia.' Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
