Ocean Ecol Lab

🎓 Proud moment at the HKUST Congregation 2025 – Dr Tim King (Ph.D.) and Ms Shiyue Wang (M.Phil.) graduating.
Their theses advanced understanding of coral metabolism and trophic ecology in changing reef environments.
Congrats to both and looking forward to more contributions to coral reef science.

💡 One fringing site – LTER5 – remained stable and dominated by Porites rus, showing how distance from shore and hydrodynamic exposure can support resilience even when other fringing sites decline.

🪸 Nearly two decades of reef monitoring show that fringing reefs ⬇️ degraded while fore reefs ⬆️ recovered, highlighting how local conditions, connectivity, and development – not just ocean heating – shape resilience.

Long‐term community dynamics are heterogeneous between fringing‐ and fore‐reef habitats on an Indo‐Pacific coral reef Benthic community structure on present-day coral reefs is often described as rapidly degrading, yet such summative statements do not capture the effects of spatial heterogeneity in communities. We fo...

🌊 New paper in Ecosphere!
Long-term community dynamics are heterogeneous between fringing- and fore-reef habitats on an Indo-Pacific coral reef
Edmunds et al. (2025)

🔗 doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70398

‘You realise your children are probably never going to see Ningaloo the way you saw it’ The west-coast reef has largely escaped the curse of coral bleaching that has blighted the Great Barrier Reef. This year, that’s changed.

#NingalooReef "annual surveys of the northern section of the reef in May found up to 90 per cent of coral had been bleached down to 20 metres depth", the "lowest cover of live coral" observed since 2007

"up to 50 per cent of the examined coral was dead in May" but "more would be dead now"

Feeling lucky to have seen Ningaloo in its prime. Devastated that my children will never have that chance.

Heard of "Darwin's paradox"? It refers to Charles Darwin's observation that coral reefs are wildly productive despite occurring in nutrient-poor tropical oceans. Reefs are, so the story goes, oases in marine deserts 🏝️...

Turns out that 2/3 of these assertions are very wrong...

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(a) Recorded sightings of whale shark neonates globally (black points). (b) Image of neonatal and adult whale sharks from Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute Philippines group (b) and Marty Snyderman (b). (c) Whale shark neonates and sea surface temperature (SST, °C averaged for 2005–2019). (d) SST recorded from neonate locations and 10 randomised runs. (e) Whale shark neonates and Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a, mg m3 averaged for 2005–2019). (f) Chl-a at 0 and 100 m depths recorded from neonate locations and 10 randomised runs. (g) Whale shark neonates and current velocity (UV) at 0 m depth (ms−1, averaged for 2005–2019). (h) UV recorded from neonate locations and 10 randomised runs. (i) Whale shark neonates and dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration at 100 m depth (μmol L−1, averaged for 2005–2019). (h) DO concentrations at 0 and 100 m depths recorded from neonate locations and 10 randomised runs. In (d, f, h) and (j) each point represents a single sighting or randomised location, the solid black line is the median value of randomised locations, the dashed black line the median of the observed sightings for each depth, and the violin displays the density distribution of all locations. IUCN whale shark distributions are shown in white in each map and with a black outline in (a).

New research from @thesimslab.bsky.social in @ecol-evol.bsky.social - 🦈🌊
Unlocking the mystery of baby #whaleshark birthing grounds - Extreme environments like #OMZs provide safety from predators & a rich food supply, crucial for neonate survival.

doi.org/10.1002/ece3...

@thembauk.bsky.social

Do Whale Sharks Select for Specific Environments to Give Birth? onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

YouTube video by Blancpain The Return of the Coelacanth - UNSEEN Expeditions - Blancpain

📢 First record of a living coelacanth from North Maluku, Indonesia - 👏 nice work Alexis and team 🤿
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🎦 The Return of the Coelacanth
youtu.be/Z1VSqIlokT8?...

🚨 New #Shark Pub available #OpenAccess in @natureportfolio.nature.com journal #ScientificReports 🚨

Here we reveal the dynamic physical processes that drive suitable habitat for Tiger Sharks in a subtropical coastal embayment🦈
🔗link here: rdcu.be/eeZG5
🧵 Thread for more: (1/6)
🎥: @jakemasondiving

In 2019, we showed that tiny, bottom-dwelling fish can fuel coral reef energy fluxes. In our new paper, we reveal a dramatic dichotomy in their functional role across coral reef habitats separated by a few 100 meters.

esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

@esajournals.bsky.social

Key takeaways from our study on the record-breaking global sea surface temperature jump in 2023-24:
• A rare 1-in-512-year event
• Only possible due to human-caused global warming
• Climate models capture it—no signs of unexpected climate change

More details below 👇

On the responsibilities of intellectuals and the rise of bullshit jobs in universities You may never have considered yourself to be one. Why would you? But if you’re reading this, there is more than a likelihood that you are one. If you’re a

"We can push back on the calamitous corporatization of our universities. It is a fundamental responsibility of intellectuals."

And other gold: 🔥
🔗 academic.oup.com/brain/articl...

Large areas of WA’s Ningaloo corals could die in ‘weeks ahead’ after widespread bleaching documented Conservationists call for urgent government action as prolonged heatwave affects renowned reef, including Turquoise Bay, Tantabiddi and Bundegi

After record heat stress and mass bleaching for more than two years globally, Australia's largest fringing reef - Ningaloo Reef - is now also in the midst of a severe bleaching event 💔

Ocean has been losing its SST damping capacity (see Figure) since 1982 due to increased stratification, allowing SST anomalies and the associated climate and extreme weather events to attain stronger amplitude and persist longer. 🌊🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

👉 Widespread decline in fieldwork-based research and education is bad news for biodiversity, conservation, and future generations of scientists 😢.

"Extinction of experience among ecologists"
doi.org/10.1016/j.tr...

🐠🧪🎓 New position alert: I am looking for a full-time research technician to work on my NSF CAREER project. Perks:

✅ SCUBA-based fieldwork in Belize 🤿
✅ Chemistry labwork 🧪
✅ Lots of fish and fun(ctions) 🐠📈😀

Deadline: Feb 21st

utaustin.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/UTstaff/job/...

Please share widely.

An intense marine heatwave is unfolding off Western Australia.

theconversation.com/a-marine-hea...

A figure describing trends in coral cover and butterflyfishes.

Marine heatwaves imperil emblematic reef fishes by altering the energetic landscape of coral reefs

New paper from @thecaseylab.bsky.social in @animalecology.bsky.social

#science
#ecology

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

The power and pitfalls of amino acid carbon stable isotopes for tracing origin and use of basal resources in food webs Natural and anthropogenic stressors alter the composition, biomass, and nutritional quality of primary producers and microorganisms, the basal organisms that synthesize the biomolecules essential for...

Our extensive review of the power and pitfalls of amino acid specific carbon stable isotope analysis is finally out in Ecological Monographs! Only 5 years in the making 😅

doi.org/10.1002/ecm....

🍾Congratulations to #PhDCandidate Josh Bennett-Williams for passing his PhD Qualifying Exam at #HKUST today 🎉.
👀 Follow for more updates on Josh's work applying stable #isotopes to understand the trophic #ecology of #fishes 🐟🦈

⏰ [Closing Soon] Asian Future Leaders Scholarship Program

Want to study a Master's of Philosophy (M.Phil.) in ocean science under a generous scholarship❓ For young aspiring leaders from Asia to study in Hong Kong and obtain intercultural opportunities.

👉 Apply now: t.ly/JMdaQ [before 24 Jan 2025]

Check our new publication on mesophotic reefs fishes in Cabo Verde!!

Environmental and geographical drivers of reef fish beta diversity across the depth gradient doi.org/10.3354/meps...

@cnrs.bsky.social @sorbonne-universite.fr @coralreeffish.bsky.social @underthepole.bsky.social

🪩 Excited to share our paper in #BiologyLetters about recent trends & biases in #mesophotic research! Huge effort by our volunteer community worldwide @pimbongaerts @AlelimonHA @perez-rosales-g.bsky.social & entire @mesophotic team!
▶️ doi.org/10.1098/rsbl...
#ForCoral @rsocpublishing.bsky.social

Characterisation of coastal reef fish assemblages across an estuarine-urbanisation gradient using underwater visual census and environmental DNA metabarcoding The ongoing urbanisation of coastlines around the globe greatly impacts biodiversity, including coastal marine fishes. In many places, baseline data o…

🚨 New paper 🚨 on coastal reef fish diversity 🐠 across an estuarine-urbanisation gradient around #HongKong. Visual and #eDNA surveys revealed distinct shifts in biodiversity, previously unreported species, and a need to enhance marine protected area #MPA coverage.

👉 Read more: t.ly/EOGmh

Climate data from @copernicusecmwf.bsky.social shows, it is virtual certainty that 2024 will be the warmest year on record and the first calendar year above 1.5°C.
This does not mean the Paris Agreement has been breached, it means ambitious #climateaction is more urgent than ever

🧪⚒️🌏🌡️📈

Now brace for the bad news... Water is super warm here (29C, 84F) and there is a lot of bleaching, all the way down to the deep reefs. All of the fire corals (Millepora) that I saw were bleached, as well as about 20% of the critically endangered Elkhorn Coral (Acropora palmata).

Hidden heatwaves and severe coral bleaching linked to mesoscale eddies and thermocline dynamics - Nature Communications Hidden marine heatwaves, associated with ocean eddies that modulate undersea internal waves, threaten coastal ecosystems by driving unexpected sub-surface heating and severe coral bleaching and mortal...

🌊 Flashback: Internal-wave cooling mitigates 🌡️ thermal stress during marine heatwaves, creating hidden (temporary?) #ClimateRefuges for #mesophotic #CoralReefs.

Revisit the paper: t.ly/B2Atg🔗

🌏 How can we use these insights to enhance conservation in understudied regions like the Coral Triangle?

Scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini) IUCN Critically Endangered © Masayuki Agawa_Ocean Image Bank

New #GlobalSharkTrends study published in @science.org reveals #overfishing has more than halved shark & ray populations over the past 50-years causing widespread erosion of ecological function and exceptionally high extinction risk
👉Full article bit.ly/GlobalSharkTrends
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