Contributing a world of scientific knowledge for the conservation of our seas: Celebrating World Oceans Day, every day.

Jun 8 2022

The Conservation Biology Research Group of the Biology Department, Science Faculty, University of Malta (CBRG-UM) highlights some of the serious problems our seas are still suffering from and the challenges that need to be overcome in order to sustain long-term research and effective management for the conservation of marine species.

Climate change and pollution are just two of the many impacts on marine life which in turn affects the marine ecosystem services and functions sustaining life on this planet. So World Oceans Day is important in reminding many that this blue planet needs us to take care of all the blue parts of our world, even those far away from sight, apart from the green we easily see vanishing every day.

The experience of this research group, led by Prof Adriana Vella has seen many discoveries, such as the first scientific report of Fin whales in Maltese coastal waters in 2007, as part of long-term research on dolphins and whales, turtles and many other marine species around our islands. This experience and expertise has been applied to scientific research beyond Maltese waters in other regions in the Mediterranean to aid required knowledge on these vulnerable species spread to areas in Italian and Greek waters where dedicated field research was limited or missing.

The Italia-Malta Interreg SEA MARVEL project is another fruit of regional research collaboration involving the CBRG-UM and a research team from the University of Catania, led by Prof Iuri Peri, expanding the field research effort in the central Mediterranean. This is necessary considering the increasing pressures in this region from vessel traffic, noise and other forms of pollution including plastics and wastes, overfishing by various countries, alien species increasing and affecting local species. SEA MARVEL researchers at the University of Malta led by Prof Vella, have been and continue to conduct extensive marine and aerial surveys to study the status of Maltese marine life and environment, while also involving stakeholders to contribute their experiences and sightings out at sea.

As part of ongoing research by the CBRG-UM, mariners are directed to forward any sightings to complement long-term monitoring of various marine species, including dolphins, whales and turtles through the Notice to Mariners No 017 of 2022 by Transport Malta.

Anyone wishing to contribute more details may also fill in a Google sighting form specifically for bottlenose dolphins and loggerhead turtles found in Maltese waters.

Sea-users are reminded that these species are legally protected and vessel distance needs to be kept from dolphins and turtles to avoid any harm to them. Ongoing research has recorded increasing disturbance and changes in coastal waters with limited integrated coastal zone management which therefore may affect their natural behaviours negatively. The lack of implementation of plans and enforcement to safeguard the many marine species, that are clearly risking to go extinct or have been listed as legally protected in local waters, is another weakness that needs resolving. Rich marine biodiversity means resilience and survival of species contributing to the mechanisms that do not only maintain the sea alive but mitigate planet-wide problems, such as climate change. A world of knowledge is therefore required to understand and contribute to the best decisions and measures for conservation from local to global, with detailed studies that consider species, habitats and ecosystems.

The Dusky Grouper, Epinephelus marginatus, is an example that may highlight the contrast between lack of public awareness and urgent conservation needs. While this species is of economic importance locally in the fishing industry and considered a culinary delicacy, the public is often not aware of its over-exploitation that has caused dangerous stock reduction. This is compounded by the fact that these groupers are top predators with a territorial behaviour so easily falling victim to spearfishermen and other coastal fishing activities. Apart from direct removal of individuals from the shrinking population, harvesting groupers before sexual maturity severely impacts future population growth. As a result, the Dusky Grouper is listed as ‘Endangered’ in the Mediterranean by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Conservation of the slow growing dusky groupers requires detailed and long-term population research data, together with unbiased, accurate fish landings data and improved policies to enforce effective protection. An effort that has been earmarked for many years by the CBRG-UM, which has also used genetics to study this species further. Through numerous scuba diving surveys, the presence, abundance, and distribution of this fish in Maltese coastal waters was studied. Shockingly though this species can grow up to 1.5m, the body size distribution peaked at 20-25cm with only a few groupers larger than 55cm being recorded. Therefore until this species remains in the list of fisheries target species, there is an urgent need to increase the minimum catch size limit for this species to over 49cm, which is reported as the average length at which females reach maturity, side by side with No Take Zones in local Marine Protected Areas to ensure possibilities for larger specimens to produce offspring. Both these strategies are essential to Dusky grouper abundance and conservation in Maltese coastal waters. The species is already protected in many other Mediterranean waters.

While dusky groupers decline, alien fish are invading our seas, such as the pufferfish and lionfish which seem to have very few potential predators except groupers. In fact such issues were discussed at the 2nd International Symposium on Pufferfish and Lionfish in the Mediterranean held in Turkey, where Prof Vella was invited to give a keynote presentation, apart from contributing to the recommendations that came out from this effort.

The SEA MARVEL project is also contributing to research on aliens and their efficient detection and mitigation to safeguard local marine biodiversity. Innovative techniques developed to efficiently inform and react to new challenges are supporting the future of conservation and the CBRG continues to contribute to this transformation.

World Oceans Day allows us to encourage everyone to consider ways of taking part in collective action for the conservation of our seas/oceans. From avoiding the disposal of wastes on shores or overboard, to informing dedicated long-term researchers of their sightings in timely manner.

For any further information contact Prof Adriana Vella: [email protected]

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Joaquin Phoenix is officially returning for Joker 2

Jun 8 2022

We finally have confirmation that Joaquin Phoenix will be reprising his role as the Batman villain, the Joker, for a sequel.

Director Todd Phillips took to Instagram with the first confirmation of the 2019 movie’s sequel, sharing a cover of the script with the working title – Joker: Folie à Deux.

The French term means the ‘shared madness of two’, and it opens up many avenues for speculation. Does Arthur Fleck, who becomes the clown villain, find a partner in crime (*cough* Harley Quinn)?

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A post shared by Todd Phillips (@toddphillips)

Or is the reference to the Joker’s main heroic adversary, the Dark Knight himself? The title could also refer to something more in line with the Joker’s fractured state of mind and feature none of the aforementioned DC characters. The possibilities are endless.

In the same Instagram post revealing the film’s title, Philips included a shot of Phoenix reading the screenplay. Phoenix’s portrayal of the character ended up with him picking up the Oscar for Best Actor, with a total of 12 Oscar nominations.

The film itself broke records as it became the highest ever grossing film to be rated R, bringing in more than $1 billion worldwide. There is no current release date for the sequel, but it is expected to be another massive hit.

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Cousins ask for Puttinu Cares donations instead of gifts for Confirmation

Jun 8 2022

Celebrating their Holy Confirmation sacrament, cousins Alex and Anna decided to ask people to donate to Puttinu Cares instead of giving them presents.

The two relatives managed to raise an amount of €1,620 on the special occasion, giving the money to the NGO who helps patients, mostly children, suffering from cancer.

Well done to both for the heartfelt initiative!

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Sponges are not the most hygienic way to clean dishes study suggests

Jun 8 2022

According to researchers in Norway, kitchen sponges have more bacteria than kitchen brushes, urging people to move away from the utensil. Research scientist Trond Moretro said that salmonella and other Bactria grow and survive better in sponges than in brushes, with he reason being sponges in daily use never dry up.

‘A single sponge can harbour a higher number of bacteria than there are people on Earth’ he said, publishing online in the Journal of Applied Microbiology.

Many bacteria are not harmful, but those that are – salmonella included – can spread from sponges to hands, kitchen surfaces and equipment, potentially making people sick. A sponge is humid and accumulates food residues which are food for bacteria and therefore lead to bacterial growth.

Researchers pointed out that it didn’t really matter how people cleaned their sponge or how often as it is very difficult for consumers to avoid bacterial growth in the sponges. According to the USDA, microwaving or boiling kitchen sponges may reduce some of the bacterial load. However, these measures alone are not adequate to ensure sponges will reduce cross-contamination.

The researchers collected kitchen sponges from 20 people living in Portugal and 35 brushes and 14 sponges from Norwegians. The sponges were all used for dishwashing, with 19 of the 20 sponges from Portugal having been used five to six times a week. Overall bacteria levels were lower in used brushes than sponges.

When researchers added salmonella bacteria to the brushes and sponges, they found significant reduction in salmonella brushes allowed to dry overnight. However, no reduction for brushes stored in a plastic bag or for sponges regardless of storing conditions was noted. Whilst study authors recommended a brush over sponges, microbiology professor Cath Rees said that she would continue using a sponge to wash dishes. The key for her was drying dish sponges and cloths between use.

“The main message I get is that they did not find any evidence of pathogenic bacteria on the sponges or brushes taken from a range of domestic settings and therefore there is no evidence that these items are a significant source of contamination in normal domestic settings,” Rees said.

“If there were some low levels of pathogens left on your cloth, they are going to grow quite slowly (they grow optimally at body temperatures), so you would not expect to see much growth of these, and this matched their results — in wet condition there was some limited growth, in drying conditions the numbers either stayed the same or declined,” she explained.

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