Beach erosion making St Clair too dangerous, New Zealand
Dunedin surfers and lifeguards are calling for urgent council action to save St Clair beach. The call comes as the city prepares to host the National Surf Championships next week. Beach erosion has been a problem at St Clair for more than a century, as waves hitting the sea wall bounce off with more energy than those washing back from a regular beach.
Spread of algal toxin through marine food web broke records in 2015
While Dungeness crab captured headlines, record levels of the neurotoxin domoic acid were found in a range of species, and the toxin showed up in new places.
Turtles’ age determined by atomic-bomb fallout in their shells
During the years spanning the mid-1950s to 1970, the US government conducted some serious atomic bomb testing above the waters of the Pacific Ocean. As a result, the corals accumulated a lot of nuclear fallout into their structures. But the coral wasn’t the only sea creature to take radioactive material onboard, hawksbill sea turtles incorporated the material into their shells as well.