Latest news with #ScottishAssociationforMarineScience
The Herald Scotland
08-07-2025
- Science
- The Herald Scotland
NatureScot launches app to track Flapper Skate across Scotland
The species belong to the shark family and tend to frequent the same areas – but are also knownto travel long distances. NatureScot has now released a 'Skatespotter' app, which it is hoped will help track the marine creatures as they move across Scotland and give an indication of their numbers. Anglers, divers, fishermen, marine surveyors and beachwalkers are all encouraged to download the app and use it to upload any pictures they take of the fish so it can be cross-referenced with other snaps taken elsewhere. The SkateSpotter mobile app builds on the success of the online flapper skate photo database, which began when angling charter skipper Ronnie Campbell gave 400 digital photos of the fishto the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) in 2018. Seven years later, SkateSpotter, curated by NatureScot with contributions by even more anglers, contains more than 4,000 photos of around 2,500 individual flapper skates - recognisable by their distinctive spot patterns matched with the help of AI. The app can be accessed through a mobile phone (Image: NatureScot) The mobile phone app is designed to make it easier for the public to submit photos on the go, but older photos can also be uploaded since the app recognises the date and time the photo was taken. The data from Skatespotter has already proven valuable and was used by scientists at Marine Directorate in Aberdeen to model the population of flapper skate in the Loch Sunart to the Sound of Jura Marine Protected Area (MPA) last year. The model showed that flapper skate are recovering faster inside the MPA than outside. Jane Dodd, NatureScot's elasmobranch specialist, said: 'An army of volunteers using SkateSpotter could generate a much more significant amount of data than a handful of scientists. 'Flapper skate are generally resident, but they do travel longer distances and we might be underestimating these because most of our SkateSpotter submissions come from specific areas. 'It was time for an app to make it easier for people from all over Scotland to contribute photos of skate and hopefully help us further understand the longer distance movements of these amazing fish.' Anyone encountering a flapper skate, either when angling, diving, fishing, surveying or walking on the beach, can submit a photo via the app. They will then be asked for additional information on the general area where the skate was seen, whether it is male or female and its size. Once the photo is submitted, it will be matched against others already in the database by AI or added as a new individual.
Express Tribune
17-03-2025
- Science
- Express Tribune
A deep-sea discovery that has split scientists
Could lumpy metallic rocks in the deepest, darkest reaches of the ocean be making oxygen in the absence of sunlight? Some scientists think so, but others have challenged the claim that so-called "dark oxygen" is being produced in the lightless abyss of the seabed. The discovery -- detailed last July in the journal Nature Geoscience -- called into question long-held assumptions about the origins of life on Earth, and sparked intense scientific debate. The findings were also consequential for mining companies eager to extract the precious metals contained within these polymetallic nodules. Researchers said that potato-sized nodules could be producing enough electrical current to split seawater into hydrogen and oxygen, a process known as electrolysis. This cast doubt on the long-established view that life was made possible when organisms started producing oxygen via photosynthesis, which requires sunlight, about 2.7 billion years ago. "Deep-sea discovery calls into question the origins of life," the Scottish Association for Marine Science said in a press release to accompany the publication of the research. Environmentalists said the presence of dark oxygen showed just how little is known about life at these extreme depths, and supported their case that deep-sea mining posed unacceptable ecological risks. "Greenpeace has long campaigned to stop deep sea mining from beginning in the Pacific due to the damage it could do to delicate, deep sea ecosystems," the environmental organisation said. "This incredible discovery underlines the urgency of that call". The discovery was made in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, a vast underwater region of the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Hawaii of growing interest to mining companies. Scattered on the seafloor four kilometres (2.5 miles) beneath the surface, polymetallic nodules contain manganese, nickel and cobalt, metals used in electric car batteries and other low-carbon technologies
Gulf News
17-03-2025
- Science
- Gulf News
'Dark oxygen': A deep-sea discovery that has split scientists
Could lumpy metallic rocks in the deepest, darkest reaches of the ocean be making oxygen in the absence of sunlight? Some scientists think so, but others have challenged the claim that so-called "dark oxygen" is being produced in the lightless abyss of the seabed. The discovery - detailed last July in the journal Nature Geoscience - called into question long-held assumptions about the origins of life on Earth, and sparked intense scientific debate. The findings were also consequential for mining companies eager to extract the precious metals contained within these polymetallic nodules. Researchers said that potato-sized nodules could be producing enough electrical current to split seawater into hydrogen and oxygen, a process known as electrolysis. This cast doubt on the long-established view that life was made possible when organisms started producing oxygen via photosynthesis, which requires sunlight, about 2.7 billion years ago. "Deep-sea discovery calls into question the origins of life," the Scottish Association for Marine Science said in a press release to accompany the publication of the research. Environmentalists said the presence of dark oxygen showed just how little is known about life at these extreme depths, and supported their case that deep-sea mining posed unacceptable ecological risks. "Greenpeace has long campaigned to stop deep sea mining from beginning in the Pacific due to the damage it could do to delicate, deep sea ecosystems," the environmental organisation said. "This incredible discovery underlines the urgency of that call". The discovery was made in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, a vast underwater region of the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Hawaii of growing interest to mining companies. Scattered on the seafloor four kilometres (2.5 miles) beneath the surface, polymetallic nodules contain manganese, nickel and cobalt, metals used in electric car batteries and other low-carbon technologies. The research that gave rise to the dark oxygen discovery was partly funded by a Canadian deep-sea mining business, The Metals Company, that wanted to assess the ecological impact of such exploration. It has sharply criticised the study by marine ecologist Andrew Sweetman and his team as plagued by "methodological flaws". Michael Clarke, environmental manager at The Metals Company, told AFP that the findings "are more logically attributable to poor scientific technique and shoddy science than a never before observed phenomenon." Sweetman's findings proved explosive, with many in the scientific community expressing reservations or rejecting the conclusions. Since July, five academic research papers refuting Sweetman's findings have been submitted for review and publication. "He did not present clear proof for his observations and hypothesis," said Matthias Haeckel, a biogeochemist at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel, Germany. "Many questions remain after the publication. So, now the scientific community needs to conduct similar experiments etc, and either prove or disprove it." Olivier Rouxel, a geochemistry researcher at Ifremer, the French national institute for ocean science and technology, told AFP there was "absolutely no consensus on these results". "Deep-sea sampling is always a challenge," he said, adding it was possible that the oxygen detected was "trapped air bubbles" in the measuring instruments. He was also sceptical about deep-sea nodules, some tens of millions of years old, still producing enough electrical current when "batteries run out quickly". "How is it possible to maintain the capacity to generate electrical current in a nodule that is itself extremely slow to form?" he asked. When contacted by AFP, Sweetman indicated that he was preparing a formal response. "These types of back and forth are very common with scientific articles and it moves the subject matter forward," he said. Sign up for the Daily Briefing Get the latest news and updates straight to your inbox
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
'Dark oxygen': a deep-sea discovery that has split scientists
Could lumpy metallic rocks in the deepest, darkest reaches of the ocean be making oxygen in the absence of sunlight? Some scientists think so, but others have challenged the claim that so-called "dark oxygen" is being produced in the lightless abyss of the seabed. The discovery -- detailed last July in the journal Nature Geoscience -- called into question long-held assumptions about the origins of life on Earth, and sparked intense scientific debate. The findings were also consequential for mining companies eager to extract the precious metals contained within these polymetallic nodules. Researchers said that potato-sized nodules could be producing enough electrical current to split seawater into hydrogen and oxygen, a process known as electrolysis. This cast doubt on the long-established view that life was made possible when organisms started producing oxygen via photosynthesis, which requires sunlight, about 2.7 billion years ago. "Deep-sea discovery calls into question the origins of life," the Scottish Association for Marine Science said in a press release to accompany the publication of the research. - Delicate ecosystem - Environmentalists said the presence of dark oxygen showed just how little is known about life at these extreme depths, and supported their case that deep-sea mining posed unacceptable ecological risks. "Greenpeace has long campaigned to stop deep sea mining from beginning in the Pacific due to the damage it could do to delicate, deep sea ecosystems," the environmental organisation said. "This incredible discovery underlines the urgency of that call". The discovery was made in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, a vast underwater region of the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Hawaii of growing interest to mining companies. Scattered on the seafloor four kilometres (2.5 miles) beneath the surface, polymetallic nodules contain manganese, nickel and cobalt, metals used in electric car batteries and other low-carbon technologies. The research that gave rise to the dark oxygen discovery was partly funded by a Canadian deep-sea mining business, The Metals Company, that wanted to assess the ecological impact of such exploration. It has sharply criticised the study by marine ecologist Andrew Sweetman and his team as plagued by "methodological flaws". Michael Clarke, environmental manager at The Metals Company, told AFP that the findings "are more logically attributable to poor scientific technique and shoddy science than a never before observed phenomenon." - Scientific doubts - Sweetman's findings proved explosive, with many in the scientific community expressing reservations or rejecting the conclusions. Since July, five academic research papers refuting Sweetman's findings have been submitted for review and publication. "He did not present clear proof for his observations and hypothesis," said Matthias Haeckel, a biogeochemist at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel, Germany. "Many questions remain after the publication. So, now the scientific community needs to conduct similar experiments etc, and either prove or disprove it." Olivier Rouxel, a geochemistry researcher at Ifremer, the French national institute for ocean science and technology, told AFP there was "absolutely no consensus on these results". "Deep-sea sampling is always a challenge," he said, adding it was possible that the oxygen detected was "trapped air bubbles" in the measuring instruments. He was also sceptical about deep-sea nodules, some tens of millions of years old, still producing enough electrical current when "batteries run out quickly". "How is it possible to maintain the capacity to generate electrical current in a nodule that is itself extremely slow to form?" he asked. When contacted by AFP, Sweetman indicated that he was preparing a formal response. "These types of back and forth are very common with scientific articles and it moves the subject matter forward," he said. aag/np/fg/pjm
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
'Dark oxygen': a deep-sea discovery that has split scientists
Could lumpy metallic rocks in the deepest, darkest reaches of the ocean be making oxygen in the absence of sunlight? Some scientists think so, but others have challenged the claim that so-called "dark oxygen" is being produced in the lightless abyss of the seabed. The discovery -- detailed last July in the journal Nature Geoscience -- called into question long-held assumptions about the origins of life on Earth, and sparked intense scientific debate. The findings were also consequential for mining companies eager to extract the precious metals contained within these polymetallic nodules. Researchers said that potato-sized nodules could be producing enough electrical current to split seawater into hydrogen and oxygen, a process known as electrolysis. This cast doubt on the long-established view that life was made possible when organisms started producing oxygen via photosynthesis, which requires sunlight, about 2.7 billion years ago. "Deep-sea discovery calls into question the origins of life," the Scottish Association for Marine Science said in a press release to accompany the publication of the research. - Delicate ecosystem - Environmentalists said the presence of dark oxygen showed just how little is known about life at these extreme depths, and supported their case that deep-sea mining posed unacceptable ecological risks. "Greenpeace has long campaigned to stop deep sea mining from beginning in the Pacific due to the damage it could do to delicate, deep sea ecosystems," the environmental organisation said. "This incredible discovery underlines the urgency of that call". The discovery was made in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, a vast underwater region of the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Hawaii of growing interest to mining companies. Scattered on the seafloor four kilometres (2.5 miles) beneath the surface, polymetallic nodules contain manganese, nickel and cobalt, metals used in electric car batteries and other low-carbon technologies. The research that gave rise to the dark oxygen discovery was partly funded by a Canadian deep-sea mining business, The Metals Company, that wanted to assess the ecological impact of such exploration. It has sharply criticised the study by marine ecologist Andrew Sweetman and his team as plagued by "methodological flaws". Michael Clarke, environmental manager at The Metals Company, told AFP that the findings "are more logically attributable to poor scientific technique and shoddy science than a never before observed phenomenon." - Scientific doubts - Sweetman's findings proved explosive, with many in the scientific community expressing reservations or rejecting the conclusions. Since July, five academic research papers refuting Sweetman's findings have been submitted for review and publication. "He did not present clear proof for his observations and hypothesis," said Matthias Haeckel, a biogeochemist at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel, Germany. "Many questions remain after the publication. So, now the scientific community needs to conduct similar experiments etc, and either prove or disprove it." Olivier Rouxel, a geochemistry researcher at Ifremer, the French national institute for ocean science and technology, told AFP there was "absolutely no consensus on these results". "Deep-sea sampling is always a challenge," he said, adding it was possible that the oxygen detected was "trapped air bubbles" in the measuring instruments. He was also sceptical about deep-sea nodules, some tens of millions of years old, still producing enough electrical current when "batteries run out quickly". "How is it possible to maintain the capacity to generate electrical current in a nodule that is itself extremely slow to form?" he asked. When contacted by AFP, Sweetman indicated that he was preparing a formal response. "These types of back and forth are very common with scientific articles and it moves the subject matter forward," he said. aag/np/fg/pjm
