Bodega Content

Do Marine Protected Areas Work?

Katherine E Kerlin — July 17, 2019 - 10:43am

Marine protected areas, or MPAs, are an increasingly common way of protecting marine ecosystems by prohibiting fishing in specific locations. However, many people remain skeptical that MPAs actually benefit fish populations, and there has not yet been a way to demonstrate whether or not they are effective. Until now.

Tiny Shells Indicate Big Changes to Global Carbon Cycle

Katherine E Kerlin — May 25, 2017 - 4:31pm

Experiments with tiny, shelled organisms in the ocean suggest big changes to the global carbon cycle are underway, according to a study from the University of California, Davis.

For the study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, scientists raised foraminifera — single-celled organisms about the size of a grain of sand — at the 69�� Bodega Marine Laboratory under future, high CO2 conditions.

Canary in the Kelp Forest

Katherine E Kerlin — April 18, 2017 - 3:06pm

The one-two punch of warming waters and ocean acidification is predisposing some marine animals to dissolving quickly under conditions already occurring off the Northern California coast, according to a study from the University of California, Davis.

Mass Oyster Die-Off in S.F. Bay Related to Atmospheric Rivers

Katherine E Kerlin — December 13, 2016 - 1:00pm

Atmospheric rivers contributed to a mass die-off of wild Olympia oysters in north San Francisco Bay in 2011, according to a study led by 69�� and the San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. The study is the first to document biological impacts of atmospheric rivers, which are predicted to increase under future climate change.

Robot Larvae Deployed at Sea

Katherine E Kerlin — August 31, 2016 - 4:30pm

Scientists from the University of California, Davis, are deploying “robot larvae” into the ocean at Bodega Bay, just north of San Francisco.

These robots mimic clouds of microscopic marine larvae, such as baby crabs, mussels, clams and rockfish. The data the bots bring back provide some of the first direct confirmation of a decades-old and surprisingly contentious scientific mystery: Where do marine larvae go, how do they get there and back, and what allows them to do this?