The 13th Newsletter of the International Quiet Ocean Experiment, now online, include updates on the Global Library of Underwater Sounds (GLUBS) and the World Ocean Passive Acoustic Monitoring (WOPAM) day.
Area of Research: Oceans
Economist magazine Back to Blue initiative refers to our oceans work
Adam Green, of the Economist magazine’s Back to Blue Initiative, interviews Jesse here about industrialization of the oceans.
And refers to our eDNA work in this article on Saving the Bays.
Short video about passive acoustic monitoring for ocean life
The International Quiet Ocean Experiment (IQOE) in 2023 gave birth to World Ocean Passive Acoustic Monitoring (WOPAM) Day. The excellent 2024 WOPAM Day video can be seen at https://x.com/GLUBS1/status/1798995048522277190. The full soundtrack for WOPAM Day 2024 is at: https://www.wo-pam.com/wopam-2024 (scroll down and see the link). Congratulations to Miles Parsons and other team members on extending the 2024 monitoring to about 400 sites around the world!
Jesse & Mark NOAA ‘Omics Webinar on eDNA-dominant fish species
NOAA has posted the video of their ‘Omics Seminar Series: eDNA-Dominant Marine Fish Species Characterize Coastal Habitats presented on 28 February, 2024 by Mark Stoeckle and Jesse Ausubel. The 1-hour seminar is full of new results and ideas about using eDNA data to characterize marine regions and features Mark’s excellent graphics.
Title: eDNA-Dominant Marine Fish Species Characterize Coastal Habitats: an eDNA-Based Classifier Approach to Aid Marine Biogeography and Ocean Monitoring by Mark Stoeckle & Jesse Ausubel
Abstract: A small minority of species typically account for the great majority of individuals or biomass. Here we characterize marine coastal habitats based on abundance of marine fish environmental DNA. We designate the ten most eDNA-abundant fish species in each habitat as eDNA-dominant species. eDNA-dominant species are similar within but differ among habitats and seasons and accord with abundance by traditional survey methods. “Classifiers” based on eDNA-dominant fish species could help map marine fish habitats and monitor changing oceans. Advantages include relatively low sampling requirements, a single technology applicable to diverse habitats, and ease of application to multiple datasets.
Updated IQOE Evaluation and 12the Newsletter
For the 25th meeting of the Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans on 22-25 January 2024 Jesse Ausubel, Ed Urban, and Peter Tyack updated the evaluation of the International Quiet Ocean Experiment. IQOE’s 12th Newsletter is now also online.
eDNA of Newtown Creek, industrial waterway separating Queens & Brooklyn
RockEDU summer students Priyam Shah and Michael Epelman, who just completed high school, teamed with mentor extraordinaire Mark Stoeckle to study the fishes of an NYC Superfund Site, Newtown Creek. Their excellent poster shows that eDNA detected a surprising diversity of fish in Newtown Creek, despite ongoing pollution and sewage overflow. The number and relative abundance of fish species differed among sites consistent with species habitat preference and pollution tolerance. Our data support eDNA as a cost-effective, non-destructive method for monitoring fish populations and assessing habitat restoration efforts in Newtown Creek and other Superfund sites
Quiet Ocean news
IQOE Newsletter #11 reports on the IQOE Science Committee meeting and Global Library on Underwater Sounds (GLUBS) workshop in Woods Hole in April in which Jesse participated, as well as the first World Ocean Passive Acoustic Monitoring Day in June. The newsletter also provides updates on the global hydrophone metadatabase, low-cost hydrophones, and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on ocean sound.
Remembrance of marine biologist Vera Alexander
A stalwart member of the International Scientific Steering Committee of the Census of Marine Life, Vera Alexander passed away at the age of 90 in Fairbanks AK in May. The Arctic Research Consortium US earlier offered this informative tribute.
Jesse worked closely with Vera during the Census of Marine Life from 1999-2010 and offers this remembrance of The Many Contributions of Vera Alexander.
First World Ocean Passive Acoustic Monitoring (WOPAM) day
A child of the International Quiet Ocean Experiment, today is the first World Ocean Passive Acoustics Monitoring (WOPAM) day. The IQOE leaders, including Miles Parsons and Steve Simpson, have prepared two very cool 90-second videos to initiate WOPAM day.
Downloadable at this site. 150 MB each, but they download quickly.
eDNA biodiversity survey of Charles River & Boston Harbor
For a 50th Harvard College Reunion Seminar on EO Wilson’s proposal to conserve half Earth, Jesse Ausubel and Mark Stoeckle, assisted by Elizabeth Munnell, conducted a survey of vertebrates in three locations in the Charles River and two in Boston Harbor. The 14 slides on The Charles River and Boston Harbor Then and Now tell a story of remarkable ecological recovery.