Rochelle Constantine
@rconstantine.bsky.social
Always about the ocean, Professor, solutions focused, Aotearoa New Zealand is home
Breaking News! Code: Bonkers! El Nino continues to spike towards an all-time record high anomaly, with the Nino 3.4 sea surface temperature more than 2.6°C above the 1991-2020 baseline as of August 4th, and more than 1.0C° above the previous August 4th record set in 1997.
Here are the daily warming stripes, updated through July 25, 2026. The future is black.
New issue of #PhilTransB: Ecological #epigenetics at the intersection of behaviour and life history variation in non-model animals. Read #OA: buff.ly/6v4pqCo
Another new paper out this week: A culturally transmitted foraging technique in Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins can be predicted by DNA-methylation levels royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/article...
A culturally transmitted foraging technique in Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins can be predicted by DNA-methylation levels
Abstract. Cultural repertoires can influence access to resources and fitness across species, impacting individuals' environmental niches and social network
royalsocietypublishing.org
New issue of #PhilTransB: Ecological #epigenetics at the intersection of behaviour and life history variation in non-model animals. Read #OA: buff.ly/6v4pqCo
Solomon Islands has joined Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu & Fiji to create a massive marine protected area network known as the Melanesian Ocean Corridor of Reserves. While experts say large corridors are highly effective, they caution that clear governance is needed to prevent it being a "paper park."
Melanesian nations announce intention to create massive ocean reserve corridor
A group of Pacific island nations have agreed to formally establish the Melanesian Ocean Corridor of Reserves (MOCOR), a massive transboundary marine protected area (MPA) that will span their…
mongabay.cc
DNA metabarcoding improves detection of rare prey in feral cat diets connectsci.au/wr/article/d...
DNA metabarcoding improves detection of rare and volant prey in feral cat (Felis catus) diets.
Context: Cats (Felis catus) have contributed to the extinctions of more than 60 vertebrates and continue to be a major conservation threat globally. Conser
connectsci.au
So it begins. The deadly bird flu has arrived in Aotearoa. Read Bill Morris's great piece on the latest here www.nzgeo.com/stories/dead... and to stay up to date, keep an eye on @nzgeo.bsky.social's new landing page here: www.nzgeo.com/bird-flu Crossing everything for our beloved birds and seals 🦭🦜🧪
Everything we know about bird flu
Avian flu has arrived in New Zealand, riding along with a sick skua. Scientists have been worried about this moment for decades. Here is everything we know...
nzgeo.com
We also built a free Shark & Ray MPA Explorer so researchers, managers, and conservationists can explore species-level MPA coverage for all 1,158 species. If you're interested in sharks and rays, take a look! tinyurl.com/SharkRayMPAExplorer @sfubiosciences.bsky.social @society4conbio.bsky.social
When the #Climate turns up the temperature, even a barking gecko goes quiet The #Pilbara barking gecko is losing the cool, shaded refuges it relies on as the region warms A small gecko, with a big warning Read more here doi.org/10.1071/PC25... #PacificConsBio #OpenAccess
Targeted conservation assessment of the climate-sensitive, poorly known Pilbara barking gecko (Underwoodisaurus seorsus)
Species that depend on cool, stable microclimates are among the wildlife most vulnerable to climate change. Our targeted study combined field surveys and h
doi.org
The UN Bottom Fisheries Review (13–14 July 2026) is putting seamounts under renewed focus. These deep-sea mountains are biodiversity hotspots, but are still threatened by destructive bottom trawling. Pressure is growing for a global deadline to end bottom trawling on seamounts by 2027.
Breaking News! Code: y-axis alert! Global sea-surface temperatures are at 21.00°C, and have now set a new daily record high for the 33rd day in a row, more than 0.08°C above the previous record high, set in 2024. The Climate 8-ball is drunk again.
I think our *esteemed* minister in charge of science should take him aside and have a word with him. Surely that will work 🤔 🤪
Simon J. Greenhill@simongreenhill.bsky.social · last mo.The New Zealand Prime Minister's view of science: www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
Recreating the legendary heatwave summer of 1976 in today's climate open.substack.com/pub/climatel...
Recreating the legendary heatwave summer of 1976 in today’s climate
The summer of 1976 was an extraordinary heatwave for its time.
open.substack.com
Every stripe tells a story. Of changing seasons. Of rising temperatures. Of a warming world that is already affecting our landscapes, our food & our future. But this story isn't finished. The choices we make today will shape the world inherited by the next generations. #ShowYourStripes
A spate of shark bites has Australian ocean lovers on edge. People want to know why they’re rising
A spate of shark bites has Australian ocean lovers on edge. People want to know why they’re rising
Warming ocean temperatures mean sharks are spending more time in high-population areas, yet shark net data shows no significant changes in numbers
theguardian.com
Great article in @australia.theguardian.com on shark attacks Includes comments & a photoshoot of @robharcourt.bsky.social Classic quote from @conservbytes.bsky.social on shark nets "They’re an environmental catastrophe and there is no evidence that they reduce the incidence of shark bites" 🐳🌍🦑
Guardian Australia@australia.theguardian.com · 2mo agoA spate of shark bites has Australian ocean lovers on edge. People want to know why they’re rising
Today, June 20th, is show your stripes day! Here is the latest update to the daily warming stripes. In case your favorite uncle asks, so far, through June 18th, 2026 is 1.45°C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial baseline.
Today is #ShowYourStripes day! This year, St Michael's Tower atop Glastonbury Tor is encouraging everyone to use the Climate Stripes to start a conversation about climate change and the actions they are taking. Thank you @nationaltrust.org.uk! Graphics: www.ShowYourStripes.info
💯 No matter how hard we try, it’s very very very difficult to ensure accurate information is given. 😞 This is disappointing.
Andy McKay@korimakoecology.bsky.social · 2mo agoI get that these people mean well but bottom trawling on the high seas has nothing to do with Māui dolphins. Set netting has always presented a much larger threat to Māui dolphins compared to bottom trawling.
If you want to learn more about beaked whales and our hypotheses of speciation you can read more here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Genomic Insights Into the Evolutionary History of Berardius Beaked Whales: Speciation Driven by Resource Specialization, Gigantism and Thermal Barriers?
Understanding the diversity of our oceans is fundamental now more than ever as climate change and human activities put increasing pressure on marine species and ecosystems. Beaked whales (family Ziph...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Brazil’s environmental agency approved oil drilling off the mouth of the Amazon River, even though oil company Petrobras considers it “unfeasible” to rescue large animals like #manatees in the event of an oil spill. news.mongabay.com/2026/06/amaz...
Amazon oil drilling plan excludes unique hybrid manatees too big for rescue
A rare hybrid population faces an oil frontier with a rescue plan that experts call insufficient.
news.mongabay.com
Shayanta Chowdhury photographed entomologist Lee Haines viewing a yellow fever mosquito under an ultraviolet light in a laboratory at the University of Notre Dame. #SciArt
Gunnar Hartmann is the overall winner of Nature’s 2026 Scientist at Work photography competition with a photo of two researchers guiding a flock of northern bald ibis on their migration across the fields of Jaén in the south of Spain. go.nature.com/4aERhNI #Academicsky #SciArt 🧪 More winners 👇
Robert Harcourt captured an image of Michael Doane, a marine biologist, collecting a microbiome sample from a whale shark off the coast of Western Australia. #SciArt
The signals are becoming harder to ignore. Record ocean temperatures. Melting ice. Rising seas. More extreme weather. What happens in the polar regions doesn't stay there. The systems that regulate our climate connect us all. #WorldEnvironmentDay #NowForClimate @unep.org
Seabed life triples after bottom trawling ban in Scotland protected area
Seabed life triples after bottom trawling ban in Scotland protected area
Nearly a decade since Scotland established the South Arran Marine Protected Area and banned bottom trawling across much of it, life on the seafloor has thrived, a new study has found. Scientists…
news.mongabay.com
