Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology

The Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) is widely recognized for its contributions to marine biological studies in coral reef ecology, conservation biology, molecular evolution, aquaculture, biogeochemistry, bioacoustics and marine animal behavior, and physiology. Built on an island surrounded by coral reefs and close to deep ocean water, HIMB scientists are able to examine estuarine and coastal/pelagic processes that are important for global societies in the face of climate change and sea level rise.

Hawai‘i Ocean Time-series: The 250th Expedition

In March 2013, the Hawaii Ocean Time-series (HOT) program completed its 250th research expedition to its open ocean field site. After nearly 25 years of near-monthly sampling, the HOT program measurements serve as an important barometer of global change, providing unprecedented views on changes to the subtropical North Pacific Ocean. This program has been supported by research grants from the National Science Foundation. The video was the National Science Foundation’s Science 360 video of the day for 25 April 2013!

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SOEST in the News

2013 Hurricane season is 01 June thru 30 November

The 2013 hurricane season begins on 01 June and ends on 30 November. To help you prepare for hurricanes (and other natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunami, and floods from other causes), the UH Sea Grant College Program’s Homeowner’s Handbook to Prepare for Natural Hazards is available as a PDF or printed book. Keep track of weather conditions at the Hawai‘i Beach Hazard Forecast Site, the Meteorology Weather Server, and the Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System.

Leakage of carbon from land to aquatic environments

Fred Mackenzie, emeritus professor of Oceanography, and colleagues from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, the University of Exeter, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et l’Environnement, and ETH Zürich, recently published a study in Nature Geoscience. The study showed for the first time that increased leaching of carbon from soil, mainly due to deforestation, sewage inputs and increased weathering, has resulted in less carbon being stored on land and more stored in rivers, streams, lakes, reservoirs, estuaries, and coastal zones — environments that are together known as the “land-ocean aquatic continuum.”

Read more about it in Hawaii 24/7, UH Mānoa News, and Ka Leo. Image courtesy of P. Regnier, ESA 2003.

Puffer fish skin disease still a mystery

Red rice coral hit by blue-green algae off Kaua‘i’s North Shore has responded well to a treatment involving marine epoxy, according to state and federal scientists, but they’re still trying to find out what is causing skin problems in nearby Hawaii white-spotted toby fish (Canthigaster jactator) commonly referred to as puffer fish. “Something’s going on on that North Shore,” said Greta Aeby, assistant researcher at the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB). Signs of the skin disease include discoloration, inflammation and ulceration, or rotting skin. The normal skin color is olive green or brown with small polka dots.

Read more about it in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser (subscription required) and at SF Gate. Image courtesy of HIMB.

Research traces lineage of sea life to Hawai‘i waters

For more than 30 years, biologists have assumed that Hawai‘i was an evolutionary graveyard for marine fauna. Now new research is showing that Hawaiian marine animals are radiating back across the ocean, spreading their genes and adapting to new environments as part of a complementary process of biodiversity feedback. “What we’ve shown with genetics—by finding out who’s related to who across the Pacific—is that Hawai‘i can export biodiversity, and that it does contribute to the overall biodiversity of the Indo-Pacific,” said HIMB researcher Brian Bowen.

Read more about it in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser (subscription required), The Garden Isle, Hawaii 24/7, and UH Mānoa News. Image courtesy of K. Stender.

Please visit SOEST in the News: 2013 for archived news articles, with links to previous years.

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