1. Art and Diseño

ISSUE 10 | 2013
MI-NEWS
w w w. p l y m o u t h . a c . u k / m a r i n e
PLYMOUTH HOSTS
INTERNATIONAL
COASTAL
SYMPOSIUM
ICS2013
WINNERS REVEALED AT
PLYMOUTH UNIVERSITY’S
COMMUNITY RESEARCH
AWARDS
SCIENTISTS REVEAL
IDENTITY OF MYSTERY
MARINE POLLUTANT
DISCARDS BAN COULD
IMPACT SEABIRDS
POPULATION
CONTENTS
03
04
WINNERS REVEALED AT
PLYMOUTH UNIVERSITY’S
COMMUNITY RESEARCH
AWARDS
MARIC - INTELLIGENT
CONNECTIONS FOR SW
MARINE BUSINESSES
06
SCIENTISTS REVEAL IDENTITY
OF MYSTERY MARINE
POLLUTANT
07
SMART WAY FOR SEAFARERS
TO TRACK EFFECTS OF
CLIMATE CHANGE
08
PLYMOUTH UNIVERSITY
AND UNIVERSITY OF BRUNEI
DARUSSALAM TEAM UP TO
LEAD THE WAY IN MARINE
ACIDIFICATION RESEARCH IN
SOUTH EAST ASIA
09
JURASSIC RECORDS WARN OF
RISK TO MARINE LIFE FROM
GLOBAL WARMING
10
DISCARDS BAN
COULD IMPACT
SEABIRDS POPULATION
11
LAUNCH OF THE FIRST
EUROPEAN-WIDE SURVEY ON
MARINE LITTER PERCEPTIONS
12
PLYMOUTH HOSTS
INTERNATIONAL COASTAL
SYMPOSIUM, ICS2013
NEWS
WINNERS REVEALED AT PLYMOUTH
UNIVERSITY’S COMMUNITY
RESEARCH AWARDS
Plymouth University’s Vice-Chancellor’s
Community Research Awards are unique
in the UK higher education sector, and
see the University pledging £50,000 and
the support of its academic community
to tackle specific challenges, or
opportunities faced by local community
groups. This year’s award winners were
revealed at a gala event at the University
last week. The winners are the MS
Society, The Word Machine Community
Interest Company, Plymouth School
Sports Partnership, the Plymouth and
District Branch of Parkinson’s UK, Friends
of Ham Woods, Shelter Devon, and
Wembury Marine Centre Partnership.
Centre to research why the many visitors
to Wembury Beach decide to engage
with the centre or not. The team will
also explore the effects of visiting the
centre on marine awareness, attitudes
The Wembury Marine Centre Partnership, and behavioural intentions at the beach.
with Professor Martin Attrill, Director of
The research team, led by psychologist
the Marine Institute, won an award to
Dr Sabine Pahl, then plans to test an
investigate ‘The benefits of engaging
intervention aimed at increasing visitor
with the Marine Centre at Wembury
numbers.
Beach’, Professor Attrill and his team will
work with members of Wembury Marine
03
NEWS
MARIC INTELLIGENT CONNECTIONS
FOR SW MARINE BUSINESSES
This month has seen the formal launch
of the new Marine Innovation Centre – a
£2M project supported by the European
Regional Development Fund (ERDF) setup to significantly enhance and optimise
the flow of knowledge and expertise
between Higher Education (HE) and
Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
(SMEs).
How:
Why:
•
•
•
Building on the international success of
•
the Marine Institute and housed within
our brand new Marine Building, together
with an Outreach Office at the Bristol &
•
Bath Science Park, MARIC streamlines
access to the cutting-edge resources of
the University and its growing network
of specialist partners. Run by a dedicated University team and guided by an
Industrial Steering Group, MARIC aims to
make the South West’s aspiring Marine
and Maritime firms globally competitive.
04
Connecting to the Innovation
Infrastructure of the University and
its partners
Identifying opportunities for
Product and Process Innovation and
Knowledge Transfer
•
•
Promoting and delivering
collaborative partnerships
•
Providing access to dedicated
Innovation funding
•
•
•
Increase the competitiveness and
profitability of Marine Sector SMEs
Enhance access to appropriate
knowledge, information,
technologies and facilities
Increase the uptake,
commercialisation and impact of
academic research
Strengthen links to the North of the
region through an Outreach Office
in Bristol
Promote industrial engagement with
students and graduates through
placements and projects
Increase visibility and recognition
of SW SMEs to local and national
government
Joined-up thinking to avoid
duplication and confusion in the
market place
The target audience for the Marine
Innovation Centre includes: inventors,
prospective entrepreneurs, new and
existing business, and inward investors
looking to establish operations in the
South West Region. MARIC will draw on
the knowledge, skills and experience
of a range of university staff who will
dedicate time to the project in addition
to supporting the University’s core
activities i.e. teaching, training and
research.
MARIC aligns well with Plymouth
University’s Enterprise vision: to deliver
outstanding economic, social and
cultural benefits from its intellectual
capital. It will enhance interdisciplinary
research capacity across a broad
range of subject areas both within the
University and other regional research
centres, for example, the Marine
Biological Association (MBA) and
Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML).
Ian McFadzen has been appointed as
Head of MARIC and Steve Rice as MARIC
Project Officer.
Further Info
t: 0800 052 5600
e: [email protected]
w: www.plymouth.ac.uk/enterprisesolutions
MARIC will also fund the creation of
3 new posts to support the delivery
of the project - these staff will be
collectively responsible for: identifying
and promoting opportunities for
collaborative and applied research
with industry, pro-actively marketing
the Centre to a regional, national and
international audience, ensuring the
delivery and reporting of ERDF outputs
in-line with contractual obligations
and managing relationships with the
various external networks and support
organisations.
05
RESEARCH
SCIENTISTS REVEAL
IDENTITY OF MYSTERY
MARINE POLLUTANT
For further information contact: Professor Steve Rowland ([email protected])
Professor of Organic Geochemistry, Biogeochemistry Research Centre
Scientists at Plymouth University appear
to have identified the ‘mystery’ waxy oillike substance which has been polluting
seabirds along the south coast of the UK.
“All of the analytical data we have points
to the identification of the substance
as a polyisobutene or PIB mixture”, said
Professor Steve Rowland.
The results show the particular mixture
of hydrocarbons in the oil has an
average molecular weight of about
1,080 carbon atoms. Manufacturers
describe similar materials as colourless,
odourless and sticky, all consistent with
the appearance of the oil on the birds’
feathers.
PIBs are a range of substances varying
from low molecular weight oils to high
weight solids, but Professor Rowland
and Research Officer, Dr Paul Sutton,
think the culprit waxy, sticky substance
is a mid-range material often used as
lubricant additive.
The findings have received huge media
“With funding from the European
coverage, including The Guardian, The
Research Council, we have recently
Mirror, BBC Radio Five Live, and BBC
developed special methods for analysis News Online.
of oils in this range, including palm oil,
which we were able to rule out at an
early stage as a contaminant in this case,
as the profiles did not match that of the
mystery oil” said Professor Rowland.
06
The researchers received an oiled
Guillemot for analysis from the RSPCA,
recovered from Chesil Beach in Dorset,
and have been conducting laboratory
tests upon it. They released their findings
to the Maritime & Coastguard Agency
and the RSPCA.
SMART WAY FOR SEAFARERS
TO TRACK EFFECTS OF
CLIMATE CHANGE
For further information contact: Dr Richard Kirby ([email protected])
Marine Institute Research Fellow
Seafarers are being encouraged to take
part in a unique global study, using a
mobile phone app to record the effects
of climate change. The public science
project will measure the amount of
phytoplankton - minute organisms at
the very start of the marine food chain currently residing in the world’s oceans.
Scientists fear the population of the
microscopic beings is in decline due
to rising sea temperatures and, if true,
that could have consequences for every
aspect of marine life.
The project is being spearheaded by
the Marine Institute, which hopes to
build a map of the oceans that charts
the seasonal and annual changes of
phytoplankton from now into the future.
Attached to a measuring tape, the
Secchi Disk is lowered over the side
of a boat and the depth at which it
disappears from sight estimates the
amount of phytoplankton in the sea.
This depth can then be uploaded to a
database using the Secchi app.
global population of sailors involved, we
can generate a database that will help
us understand how life in the oceans is
changing. It would help us learn much
more about these important organisms
at a crucial time when their habitat is
altering due to climate change.”
Dr Kirby added: “The Secchi Disks are
still used by marine scientists to study
phytoplankton but there are too few
scientists to survey the world’s oceans
as well as we would wish. This app
enables seafarers around the world to
take part in a science project and if we
can just get a small percentage of the
The Secchi app has been developed by
Drs Nicholas Outram and Nigel Barlow,
from the School of Computing and
Mathematics, and the database will be
maintained by Pixalytics Ltd, a company
founded by Dr Sam Lavender, an
Honorary Reader at the University.
Dr Richard Kirby, who is leading the
study, said: “As the phytoplankton live
at the surface of the sea they are being
affected by rising sea temperatures
due to climate change. A scientific
paper published last year suggested
the ocean’s plankton population had
declined by as much as 40 per cent
since 1950. Like all marine creatures,
phytoplankton have a preferred
optimum sea temperature no matter
where they are in the world and we
need to know more about how they are
changing in order to understand the
effects on the ocean’s biology.”
To check the levels of phytoplankton
in our oceans, marine experts have
developed a free smart phone app for
sailors and fishermen to use wherever
they are in the world. Because the
phytoplankton – each thinner than a
strand of human hair – exist at the sea’s
surface, mariners can carry out a simple
experiment using an easy to make
‘Secchi Disk’.
07
RESEARCH
PLYMOUTH UNIVERSITY
AND UNIVERSITY OF BRUNEI
DARUSSALAM TEAM UP TO LEAD
THE WAY IN MARINE ACIDIFICATION
RESEARCH IN SOUTH EAST ASIA
By Professor Jason Hall-Spencer ([email protected])
Professor of Marine Biology, Marine Biology & Ecology Research Centre
Professor Jason Hall-Spencer discussing artisanal
mariculture practices with local people in the Sungai
Brunei estuary, in respect of future acidification
impacts. It is crucial for future management practices
to understand which will be the ‘winners’ and ‘losers’
as the marine environment becomes more acidified.
Increases in atmospheric carbon
dioxide are causing an increase in the
dissolution of this gas in the oceans of
the world, in turn causing the oceans to
become more acidic. The consequences
of ocean acidification (OA) are dire,
as this causes the loss of carbonate
from the skeletons of calcifying marine
organisms, such as gastropod molluscs
and coral reef forming organisms. The
future demise of these ecologically
important organisms and systems is
likely to impact ecosystem services,
fisheries and food security, at a time
when the world demand for food is
likely to escalate alarmingly in relation to
human population growth.
08
Dr David J. Marshall, his Universiti Brunei
Darussalam (UBD) collaborators (Drs Lee
Hoon Lim and Jose Santos), and his team
of international graduate students (Belal
Hossain, Aimimuliani Adam and Sorya
Proum) have been exploring the effects
of acidification in the Brunei estuarine
system for some time. To improve
understanding of how their system may
relate to carbonate-chemistry-driven
OA, they recently invited Jason HallSpencer, a world expert on OA and
Professor of Marine Biology at Plymouth
University, to visit and collaborate on
research projects. While in Brunei Jason
exchanged valuable information with
the PhD students and presented two
lectures describing work published in
2012 in the premier science journals,
Nature Climate Change and Global
Change Biology.
A spinoff of Professor Hall-Spencer’s
visit was a discussion around the lack of
monitoring data available for the South
China Sea, despite the extensive global
monitoring programmes currently in
place. Encouraged by the need for OA
data, Drs David Marshall and David Lane,
are putting plans in place to establish an
OA monitoring system off the coastline
of Brunei. An MoU is being prepared
between UBD and Plymouth University
Marine Institute, to facilitate researcher
and student exchanges in OA research.
JURASSIC RECORDS WARN
OF RISK TO MARINE LIFE
FROM GLOBAL WARMING
For further information contact: Professor Richard Twitchett
([email protected]), Professor of Geology
Centre for Research in Earth Sciences (CRES)
The risk posed by global warming and
rising ocean temperatures to the future
health of the world’s marine ecosystem
has been highlighted by scientists
studying fossil records. Researchers at
Plymouth University believe that findings
from fieldwork along the North Yorkshire
coast reveal strong parallels between
the Early Jurassic era of 180 million years
ago and current climate predictions over
the next century.
Through geology and palaeontology,
they’ve shown how higher temperatures
and lower oxygen levels caused drastic
changes to marine communities, and
that while the Jurassic seas eventually
recovered from the effects of global
warming, the marine ecosystems that
returned were noticeably different from
before.
floor at the time the rocks were laid
down.
The researchers, working with Dr Crispin
Little from the University of Leeds, were
then able to correlate the ecological
data with published data on changes
in temperature, sea level and oxygen
concentrations.
Dr Danise said: “Back in the laboratory,
we broke down the samples and
identified all of the fossils, recording
their relative abundance much like
a marine biologist would do when
sampling a modern environment.
Then we ran the ecological analyses
Professor Twitchett added: “The results
show in unprecedented detail how the
fossil Jurassic communities changed
dramatically in response to a rise in sea
level and temperature and a decline in
oxygen levels.
“Patterns of change suffered by these
Jurassic ecosystems closely mirror the
changes that happen when modern
marine communities are exposed to
declining levels of oxygen. Similar
ecological stages can be recognised
in the fossil and modern communities
despite differences in the species
present and the scale of the studies.”
The results of the Natural Environment
Research Council-funded project are
revealed for the first time in this month’s
PLOS ONE scientific journal.
Professor Richard Twitchett, from the
University’s School of Geography, Earth
and Environmental Sciences, and a
member of its Marine Institute, said:
“Our study of fossil marine ecosystems
shows that if global warming is severe
enough and lasts long enough it may
cause the extinction of marine life, which
irreversibly changes the composition of
marine ecosystems.”
Professor Twitchett, with Plymouth
colleagues Drs Silvia Danise and MarieEmilie Clemence, undertook fieldwork
between Whitby and Staithes, studying
the different sedimentary rocks and
the marine fossils they contained.
This provided information about the
environmental conditions on the sea
to determine how the marine seafloor
community changed through time.”
The team found a ‘dead zone’ recorded
in the rock, which showed virtually no
signs of life and contained no fossils.
This was followed by evidence of a
return to life, but with new species
recorded.
The NERC project – ‘The evolution
of modern marine ecosystems:
environmental controls on their structure
and function’ – runs until March 2015,
and is one of four funded under their
Coevolution of Life and the Planet
research programme.
09
RESEARCH
DISCARDS BAN
COULD IMPACT
SEABIRDS POPULATION
For further information contact Dr Stephen Votier ([email protected])
Associate Professor in Marine Ecology, Marine Biology & Ecology Research Centre
Species of seabirds could successfully
return to their natural foraging habits
following changes to European fisheries
policies, scientists have suggested. The
European Parliament recently voted to
scrap the controversial discards policy,
which has seen fishermen throwing
thousands of edible fish and fish waste
back into the sea because they have
exceeded their quotas.
Scientists at Plymouth University believe
this could have a negative impact on
some seabirds, which have become
used to following the fishing vessels and
are increasingly reliant on their discards.
But they say others could return to using
foraging as their sole source of food, as
long as there are sufficient numbers of
fish to meet their needs.
Dr Stephen Votier, Associate Professor in
Marine Ecology at Plymouth University,
led the study. He said: “Policy changes
can have unforeseen consequences,
and the recent decision on the EU
discards policy will pose challenges for
a number of species. Many seabirds
have come to rely to some extent on
fishing vessels for food and globally,
commercial capture fisheries generate
huge quantities of discards. However,
we believe there is a level of resilience
among seabirds which means they will
be able to overcome these challenges.”
The study focused on populations
of northern gannets on Grassholm
Island, in Wales, with tiny cameras and
GPS trackers being attached to birds
to monitor their foraging habits. The
cameras captured more than 20,000
images, allowing scientists for the first
time to analyse where the birds had
flown to source food, precisely what
10
they had fed on, and other details such
as their sex and reproductive status.
The findings showed 42% of birds
regularly targeted fishing vessels, as
well as searching for naturally occurring
prey, while 81% of male gannets used
fishing vessels to source food and 30%
of female birds did so.
Dr Votier added: “We have used cuttingedge technology to reveal the private
lives of seabirds at sea – in this instance
how they interact with fisheries – and
the findings suggest scavenging is more
common in this species than previously
thought. This suggests a discard ban
may have a significant impact on gannet
behaviour, particularly so for males, but
a continued reliance on ‘natural’ foraging
shows the ability to switch away from
discards, but only if there is sufficient
forage fish to meet their needs in the
absence of a discard subsidy.”
The research study, which also involved
scientists from the Plymouth Marine
Laboratory and the Centre d’Etudes
Biologiques de Chize in France, was
conducted under licence from the
Countryside Council for Wales and the
British Trust for Ornithology. It received
funding from the National Environment
Research Council, and the full findings
are published in the PLOS ONE scientific
journal.
LAUNCH OF THE FIRST
EUROPEAN-WIDE SURVEY ON
MARINE LITTER PERCEPTIONS
By Bonny Hartley, Sabine Pahl and Richard Thompson, Marine Biology and Ecology
Research Centre (MBERC) and Centre for Research in Brain, Cognition and Behaviour
(CBCB), [email protected]
A European-wide survey which aims to
provide the first detailed insight into
people’s perceptions of marine litter has
just been launched by psychologists
and marine biologists at Plymouth
University. The survey will assess how
people’s attitudes toward the impacts
and the potential solutions to this
growing environmental problem vary
between countries and between those
who manufacture, sell, use or dispose of
the numerous items which can become
marine litter.
The survey is being led by Professor
Richard Thompson from the School of
Marine Science & Engineering and Dr
Sabine Pahl and Bonny Hartley from the
School of Psychology.
Professor Thompson said: “We know
that marine litter harms a wide range
of marine life including commercially
important species, many of which
are critically endangered. This debris
presents a hazard to mariners and is
exceptionally costly to clean up. Yet
many of the items we commonly find as
marine debris, such as packaging, have
no reason to accumulate in the sea. This
survey provides an exciting opportunity
to help understand the underlying
causes and identify potential solutions
to this major environmental problem’’
Marine litter refers to the persistent,
manufactured, or processed solid
material that is discarded, disposed of,
or abandoned on the coast and in the
sea. The purpose of this new survey is
to understand what people’s opinions
are about this environmental issue.
For example, we want to understand
people’s perceptions about the type of
litter found in the sea, where it comes
from, what the consequences are, and
who is responsible.
Research Fellow Bonny Hartley explains:
“Marine Litter is a societal issue in
which people play a crucial role through
their decisions and behaviours. It
affects visitors to beaches, it’s caused
by consumers, retailers and other
stakeholders and it can only be solved
by people together. Understanding
current Europe-wide attitudes and
perceptions of the problem is a crucial
step in developing solutions that are
feasible and accepted by society.”
The survey will compare people’s
views in 16 countries across the NE
Atlantic, Mediterranean, Baltic and
Black Sea regions (UK, Ireland, France,
Netherlands, Germany, Belgium,
Portugal, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey,
Denmark, Romania, Slovenia, Bulgaria,
and Spain) and from different sectors
across society, including recreational
and commercial users of the coast and
sea; environmental groups; educators;
government and policy makers; the
media; waste management sectors; and
designers, manufacturers and retailers
of items that can potentially become
marine litter.
© Richard Thompson (SoMSE)
The goal of the project is to raise societal
awareness of the problems and potential
solutions relating to the accumulation of
marine litter, in order to inspire changes
in people’s attitudes and behaviours
towards this environmental issue.
The survey takes about 15 minutes
and all information is anonymous and
confidential. Be part of this Europeanwide survey about marine litter here:
https://www.psy.plymouth.ac.uk/
MARLISCO
The survey is part of a 3-year, 4.5 Million
EURO EU funded project ‘MARLISCO’
(Marine Litter in Europe Seas: Social
Awareness and Co-Responsibility, http://
www.marlisco.eu/). Here, Plymouth
University is working in collaboration
with 19 organisations from around
Europe including other universities,
government agencies, environmental
groups and industry.
11
EVENTS
PLYMOUTH HOSTS INTERNATIONAL
COASTAL SYMPOSIUM
ICS2013
By Professor Paul Russell ([email protected])
Head of Centre for Research in Coastal and Ocean Science and Engineering (CCOSE)
The world’s largest gathering of
coastal researchers came to Plymouth
University from 8-12th April, for the
12th International Coastal Symposium
(ICS2013). The conference, which is held
in a different country every two years,
was organised by the Coastal Processes
Research Group, part of the Centre
for Research in Coastal and Ocean
Science and Engineering (CCOSE), and
sponsored by the Marine Institute.
Over 500 of the world’s leading coastal
researchers from 38 different countries
attended the week-long event. A total
of 540 technical papers were presented,
300 as oral presentations and 240 as
posters. The conference theme was
‘Coastal Environments and Global
Change’, and there were sessions on
topics such as coastal evolution, coastal
hazards, extreme storms and marine
renewable energy.
The conference included a special
session of papers from invited
international scientists to celebrate the
research and lifetime achievements
of Emeritus Professor David Huntley
whose work at Plymouth University
over 20 years helped propel it into
the international forefront of coastal
research.
Professor Gerd Masselink, of the School
of Marine Science and Engineering,
and lead on the conference organising
committee, said: “The latest advances
in science were presented at the
conference, but the meeting also
provided a forum for discussing,
comparing and contrasting the
approaches used by different countries
to combat, mitigate and adapt to climate
change impacts in the coastal zone.
The attendance of over 500 delegates
represents a ringing endorsement by the
international community of the lead role
Plymouth plays in this area.”
The keynote speakers at the conference
were: Professor Colin Woodroffe, a
leading coastal geomorphologist from
University of Wollongong, Australia;
Professor Marcel Stive, Professor of
Coastal Engineering and Department
Head of Hydraulic Engineering at
Delft University of Technology, The
Netherlands; and Dr Edith Gallagher,
a physical oceanographer formerly of
Scripps Institute of Oceanography, USA.
In addition to the conference sessions,
delegates attended an Icebreaker
hosted by the National Marine Aquarium
and took part in visits to a number of
field sites in the South West, including
Perranporth Beach in North Cornwall
where the University has been
conducting extensive research on rip
currents with the RNLI. Delegates also
received tours of the University’s new
Marine Building, complete with state of
the art wave tanks as part of its Coastal
Ocean and Sediment Transport (COAST)
facility.
Proceedings of ICS2013 will appear as
printed volumes in a special issue of the
Journal of Coastal Research published
by the Coastal Education & Research
Foundation (CERF).
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The ICS2013 Organising Committee looking suitable pleased at the Conference Closing Dinner,
from L to R, Grisha Shapiro, Ken Kingston, Paul Russell, Gerd Masselink, Claire Earlie, Hélène Bryant,
Daniel Conley, Tim O’Hare, Tim Poate, Mark Davidson (Jon Miles is missing from this picture).