News | Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute & Bodega Marine Laboratory

Graduate Student Recognized as Future Leader in Fisheries

Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries (MCCF) is pleased to announce this year’s recipient of the Paul R. Lewis Internship award. Paul R. Lewis, himself, presented the award to intern, Eliza Oldach in Stonington at the MCCF headquarters.

Where to fish? In times of uncertainty, experienced fishing boat captains may fare better

When making choices, people tend to go with what they know, or try something new. We make these trade-offs every day. Does one strategy have an advantage over another? Scientists decided to research this question by looking at fishing boat captains, who face this choice again and again when deciding where to fish.

Climate change could shrink oyster habitat in California

Ocean acidification is bad news for shellfish, as it makes it harder for them to form their calcium-based shells. But climate change could also have multiple other impacts that make California bays less hospitable to shelled organisms like oysters, which are a key part of the food web.

New Director of Training Activities for Sustainable Oceans

Pernille Sporon Boving started 7/29/19 as the new Director of Training Activities for the Sustainable Oceans NRT. We are very excited to have her onboard. She has been employed in the Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology Department and is the Director for Programming and Engagement for The Polar Forum at UC Davis.

Science and Society

Sensory impacts of global climate change lays groundwork for further investigation of communication pathways in ocean

Climate change affects not only the growth and survival of marine animals, but also their senses. A new study synthesizes the results of sensory change studies -- revealing both broad patterns and intriguing outliers -- and provides a conceptual framework to help guide future research in this emerging field.

It Pays to Explore in Times of Uncertainty

When making choices, people tend either to go with what they know or try something new. We experience this trade-off every day, whether choosing a route to work or buying breakfast cereal. But does one strategy have an advantage over another? Researchers decided to examine this question by looking at fishing boat captains, who face this choice again and again when deciding where to fish.

UC Davis News, read more

Science and Society

Do Marine Protected Areas Work?

A study published July 17 in the Journal of Applied Ecology is the first description of how to use data collected before and after a protected area is implemented to measure its effectiveness.

North Coast Mussel Die-Off Causes Alarm for Scientists

In Bodega Bay, marine biologists say something terrible happened to the mussel beds during a recent heat wave. The bivalves baked in their shells. Scientists are now worried about all the other marine life living in the mussel beds.

For KQED California Report, segment starts at minute 3:54

Marine Ecology

It’s the End of the World as They Know It - The distinct burden of being a climate scientist

“Maybe I’ve become better at suppressing my feelings…But my dominant strategy is to intellectualize it and say, ‘What a crazy species we are.’” —Ken Caldeira

For Mother Jones, read more

Climate Change

North Coast mussel die-off an alarming sign of warming world’s threat to marine life

Jackie Sones, Bodega Marine Reserve research coordinator, overlooks a bed of dead mussels that were fried during the June heat wave, Tuesday, July 2, 2019. The high temperatures and the mussels black shells leads to more absorption of sunlight.

For the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, read more

Marine Ecology