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LIFE IN A CHANGING OCEAN PROVIDING TOOLS FOR SUSTAINABLE OCEAN USE building on the success of the CENSUS OF MARINE LIFE 1 LIFE IN A CHANGING OCEAN 2 LIFE IN A CHANGING OCEAN Credit: Jason Bradley (www.bradleyphotographic.com). Life in a Changing Ocean is an international scientific program to advance discovery and expand marine biodiversity knowledge to support healthy and sustainable ecosystems. It will provide a new, integrated global view of marine life to fill knowledge gaps and answer important questions needed to effectively manage and sustain ocean ecosystems. Scientific data, research, and findings will be integrated across three interrelated and interconnected themes that will enhance knowledge and provide new, innovative tools to understand Life in a Changing Ocean: Biodiversity Discovery in Time and Space, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and Functions, and Biodiversity and Human Exploitation. The leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), the largest of all living sea turtles, is the only living species in the family Dermochelyidae. Its image was chosen to represent the challenges and opportunities for Life in a Changing Ocean and its three cornerstone themes. As a critically endangered species, the leatherback turtle is an iconic image of the beauty and aesthetics provided by the global ocean. Its nomadic nature illustrates how scientists can learn more about where species live and move by mapping their patterns to identify high-use habitats and the species that inhabit them, integral elements of the theme Biodiversity Discovery in Time and Space. Moreover, leatherback turtles can serve as oceanographic “ships” collecting data, via attached oceanographic sensors and sophisticated satellite tracking and biologging devices, from remote ocean environments where scientists rarely venture, providing a novel strategy for ocean observation, a second major objective of this theme. As a secondary predator that feeds on jellyfish and other animals, sea turtles serve as potential ecosystem engineers, and understanding their role and impacts on ecosystem services fits into Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning and Services. Knowledge of status and spatial movements can lead to action, and, in this case, fishery closures and gear mitigation techniques during the turtles’ migration may help to preserve this and other species, a foundation of Biodiversity and Human Exploitation. As demonstrated by the leatherback turtle example, these three biodiversity themes are intertwined and reflect how the Life in a Changing Ocean program will work across themes to better quantify and understand marine biodiversity to support healthy and sustainable ecosystems. 3 LIFE IN A CHANGING OCEAN Life in a Changing Ocean Life in a Changing Ocean is an international scientific program to advance and expand marine biodiversity discovery and knowledge to support healthy and sustainable ocean ecosystems. Its research is designed to establish and enhance global baselines, define the role of biodiversity in ecosystem functions and services, and understand the impact of environmental and human-derived changes on biodiversity and ocean ecosystems. After a decade of research and discovery, the Census of Marine Life released in 2010 the first global baseline of knowledge of life in the oceans. This program aggregated new and existing biodiversity data, demonstrated technologies and approaches to surveying and monitoring marine life, and built an international community of researchers eager to collaborate on new challenges. Leading up to and since the end of the Census, a Science Planning Committee has led this international community to design and agree upon a research plan to move forward. A draft plan was presented at the Second World Conference on Marine Biodiversity, and input was integrated into Life in a Changing Ocean so that it now addresses the needs, scientific challenges, and goals of the international marine biodiversity community. With the scientific and social capacity now in place, Life in a Changing Ocean will build on the success of the Census of Marine Life to improve understanding of marine biodiversity, its importance to ocean ecosystems, and how changes in marine biodiversity and ecosystems affect us globally. Life in a Changing Ocean will be a leading source of the best available science and expertise on marine species and ecosystems, globally and regionally through its international network. Critical scientific data are lacking for decisions about how, when, and where to regulate ocean use. This data gap comes at a time when the ocean, and Earth’s ecosystems as a whole, face unprecedented pressure from competing human uses and exploitation and changing environmental conditions. Similarly, the need to monitor the status of marine ecosystems and predict and mitigate change has never been greater. Human activities now affect even the deepest and most remote parts of the world’s oceans, where we have the least information about the organisms that live there and their ecological roles. Life in a Changing Ocean consists of three scientific themes that will work independently and collaboratively to paint a clearer picture of marine biodiversity in the global ocean: Biodiversity Discovery in Space and Time n Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functions and Services n Biodiversity and Human Exploitation n Each theme will address basic scientific research questions and use the results to provide policy makers and other ocean stakeholders with needed data, insights, tools, and indicators that can be used to better regulate and manage ocean resources. 4 Looking for marine life, Census researchers instead collected a trawl of trash in the Eastern Mediterranean. Credit: Brigitte Ebbe / Michael Turkay. Biodiversity Discovery in Space and Time The Census of Marine Life established a baseline for what lived and what is still living in the ocean for numerous regions and ocean realms. It also identified critical data gaps where knowledge is much needed. Currently, there are about 250,000 known marine species, but recent estimates indicate there may be as many as 2.2 million marine species, suggesting that 91 percent of the species living in the oceans remain undiscovered or undescribed. This number does not include microbial life that may exceed this estimate by an order of magnitude. Our taxonomic capacity remains limited. Barcoding and other DNA-sequencing tools provide tremendous potential for rapid assessment of biodiversity in space and time, but these analyses must involve taxonomic experts. Although our knowledge of remote environments increased in the past decade, the ��������������������������������������������� vast majority of the ocean remains unsampled. Because ocean observations are limited in time and space, many important changes go undetected or are only recognized long after they occur. The vast majority of what is known about Maps of all observations in the Census database show the known and unknown ocean. A map centered on the North Atlantic displays the general state—observations are most numerous near surface, near shore, and near and between rich nations and wide expanses await exploration. Red denotes comparatively well sampled ocean and blue denotes poorly sampled ocean. Credit: Ocean Biogeographic Information System. PROVIDING TOOLS FOR SUSTAINABLE OCEAN USE Above. Obtaining robust data on larval ecology and their colonization potential is essential to understand the maintenance of populations and the relative isolation of habitats such as canyons, cold-water corals, seamounts, hydrothermal vents, or cold seeps. Larval ecology remains a major challenge, however, due to the obstacles presented by the microscopic size of larvae and the complexity of the processes taking place in the vast open sea. Shown are Lamellibrachia luymesi tubeworms from cold seeps in the Gulf of Mexico. Other Lamellibrachia species are also found at hydrothermal vents. Credit: Chuck Fisher, Pennsylvania State University. Left. Management of commercial species such as lobster depends on knowledge of which populations contribute most offspring to future generations, requiring knowledge of larval ecology and ocean currents. Credit: Mike Strong and Maria-Ines Buzeta. biodiversity comes from studies focused on the coastal zone and continental shelf near human populations. The number of marine biodiversity observations declines rapidly with distance from land and the ocean surface, meaning that we are largely ignorant of the biodiversity in the vast majority of the ocean’s volume. Even existing biodiversity observations suffer from a lack of integration. Adding further complexity to the problem, the movements of organisms, either passively with currents or actively through migration, change throughout their life-history, connect populations, and play a critical role in ocean ecosystem function. Important habitats for migratory species frequently overlap with areas of high human use. Understanding both species composition and population connectivity will enable us to predict population recovery from exploitation, pollution, habitat destruction, and natural disturbances. We must continuously improve our knowledge of marine biodiversity, distribution, and abundance in order to develop effective management solutions for our oceans. The objectives of this Life in a Changing Ocean theme are to: Expand biodiversity baselines and observations to a wide range of organisms (microbes to mammals) and habitats, particularly remote and poorly known regions, at meaningful time scales, and link these data to physical and chemical ocean parameters, compatible with the diverse range of legacy data from previous expeditions and observing systems. n Maximize global coverage and standardize protocols including sample processing, species identification, and computer software and visualizations tools to integrate such global datasets. n Improve baseline knowledge regarding the movements and distribution of marine species (e.g., high-use habitats, aggregation areas), and environmental influences on animal behavior and dispersion. n Provide baseline marine biodiversity data to inform and validate analytical tools (e.g., geospatial mapping and models) that support ocean governance processes. n The key questions to answer in meeting these objectives are: Global biogeography patterns: How do species diversity, distribution, and abundance vary in relation to space and temporally varying environments? n Sentinels of biodiversity change: Can we identify organisms that can serve as early warning systems of change in an ecosystem that, if accurately identified, might allow time for mitigating actions to be taken? n Species identification: Can species identification efforts be refined by integrating new technologies such as DNA barcoding for rapid biodiversity assessment with established taxonomic protocols? n 5 LIFE IN A CHANGING OCEAN Modeling biodiversity hotspots: Can species distribution, abundance, and biodiversity pattern data from well-known regions be applied to model putative biodiversity hotspots within remote and unknown areas? n Advancing connectivity knowledge: How do the dispersal and movement of species, individuals, or genes connect populations and ocean locations? n Groundtruth and validate decision support tools (DSTs): Can we test and apply In the Southern Ocean, Weddell seals, Leptonychotes weddellii, and other large marine animals equipped with innovative predictive models electronic tags allow scientists to examine the state of the ocean on a continuous basis in near real time, providing a means to construct past, current, and future models of high use habitats for highly migratory species. and decision support tools to Credit: Daniel Costa, University of California, Santa Cruz. reconcile demands for human development with ecological n Assemble an interdisciplinary team of social scientists and principles? Can we use biodiversity and ocean observation datasets to validate and groundtruth results from DSTs? economists, biologists and ocean scientists. This will be done by developing and integrating new projects as well as by building on The plans for “Biodiversity Discovery in Space and Time” Census of Marine Life and other existing projects. include the following activities: Key deliverables: n Organize workshops to aggregate data and synthesize information, stimulate and develop new initiatives under the theme’s Planned deliverables for this theme include new techniques for umbrella, and collaborate with global stakeholder/user groups, biodiversity assessment and analysis, including new approaches including resource managers, industry representatives, and polito enhance and expedite the discovery and description of new cy makers. species; common protocols for collection of relevant data and data integration; predictive species range changes given baseline n Conduct exploratory efforts that target remote areas or regions distributions and current changes in environmental factors; with little or no baseline data. prioritization, through experiments that can be applied globally, n Target areas (habitats and geographies) that are threatened or of which drivers of change are most important for different that possess unique ecological attributes (e.g., high productivity, purposes and which environmental drivers should be measured; high diversity, high endemism). numerical models to integrate oceanographic, biological, and n Develop techniques to extrapolate patterns from local and rebiodiversity data to examine current and potential future changes gional to global scales. in patterns of biodiversity; an integrated toolbox for measuring n Provide baseline data from new and innovative technologies and monitoring biodiversity and ecosystems; maps of species that acquire and process data to inform ocean spatial planning. distribution, movement, biodiversity, abundance, and Ecologically These techniques could involve spatial modeling, cumulative im- and Biologically Significant Areas (EBSAs); and scientific papers, pacts assessments, climate change and adaptation models, trade such as on new techniques for observation and discovery, species off analyses and cost-benefits, and other decision support tools. and population connectivity, and animal movements. n 6 PROVIDING TOOLS FOR SUSTAINABLE OCEAN USE Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functions and Services losses, from genes to species, to habitats and ecosystems, ultimately compromise ocean functions and services. Marine ecosystems play a key role in ecological and biogeochemical processes at a global scale and provide economic val���� ue through ecosystem services. Little is known about how specific biodiversity loss relates to marine ecosystem functioning and services, particularly in poorly studied coastal areas in developing countries, and deep-sea and polar regions. All biodiversity, from viruses and bacteria to whales, from abundant to rare species, from populations to ecosystems, are potentially important in ecosystem function. New evidence, for example, suggests that synergistic interactions among bacterial species and bacterial composition can determine rates of nutrient recycling, a key aspect of ecosystem functioning. At the other body size extreme, whale feeding could influence nutrient recycling through cascading top-down effects through the food web. But we generally know little of how the functions of bacteria and whales interact, and this knowledge gap applies to most interactions across taxa in marine ecosystems. Ocean life is changing, often dramatically and often as the unintended consequences of human activity. These changes produce shifts in ecosystem function, changing the delivery of ecosystem services and values we derive. To minimize and potentially reverse declines in ocean and human health and increase ocean sustainability, we must understand biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and services relationships, and therefore, ultimately, relationships to human health and wellbeing. The goal of this research is to predict “which,” “when,” and “where” biodiversity The objectives of this Life in a Changing Ocean theme are to: 30° 60° a Franz Josef Land B A R E N T S S E A K A R A S E 90° 120° r c 150°E i t Elucidate global patterns in ecosystem functioning and services that marine organisms provide, and how they vary among ecosystems; n Clarify generality and specificity in relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and services; and n Produce scenarios on how these relationships might be modified by global climate change and other drivers. n The key questions to answer in meeting these objectives are: Variability: How does the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning change across different habitats at a global scale? What is the specific functional value of contrasting habitat types in the world’s ocean? Are biodiversity hot spots such as coral reefs also hot spots of ecosystem functions? n Interactions: How is biodiversity linked to ecosystem services? What is the functional role of rare species? How do small and large species (from viruses to whales) interact in delivery of services? How do species interactions across ecosystems (from the shallow ocean to the deep) contribute to the functioning of each other? How are connections between ecosystem functions and services related? For example, bioturbation (mixing of sediments by living organisms), a key function, could influence fisheries productivity and many other services, but are these links strong and direct? n 180° c 150°W 120° 90° o c 60° a e 30° n 0° A D NLAN GREE SEA Lancaster Sound NOR B E A U F O R T SE A WEG SEA IAN CIRCLE ARCTIC 60° H U D S O N LABRADOR SEA B A Y B E R I N G SE A S E A O F O K HO T S K B L A C K S E A E A N E R R A N M E D I T S E A CASPIAN SEA MED ITER S E A O F J A P A N RAN EAN SEA ( E A S T S E A ) N O R T a c i f N O R T H H YELLOW SEA 30° R E D 30° P E A S T C H I N A SE A i c A T L a N T I C GULF OF R TROPIC OF CANCE MEXICO S E A TROPIC OF CANCER A R A B I A N S E A B A Y S E A O F O P H I L I P P I N E S E A c e a o c e a n n A CARIBBEAN SE Northern Mariana Islands C H I N A B E N G A L Northwestern Hawaiian Islands S O U T H Kingman Reef Cocos Island Palmyra Atoll Malpelo Island 0° Howland Island EQUATOR 0° EQUATOR Baker Island Jarvis Island Coastal Gabon Chagos Archipelago I I D N a N Southern Line Islands C O R A E a S E C L O N A RICORN TROPIC OF CAP Shark Bay S O U T H a c i f i e a n Sala y Gómez Island Kermadec Islands P 30° S o u t h Desventuradas Islands c A T L a N T I C T A S M A N TROPIC OF C AP RICORN 30° S E A O HUMAN IMPACT BIODIVERSITY More diverse f Lower Medium Higher c o c e a n Less diverse g South Sandwich Islands 60° 60° C RCTIC ANTA IRCLE R O S S S E A W E D D E L L ANTAR CTIC C I RCLE S E A Ross Sea Pristine sites Humans and living organisms often utilize the same parts of the ocean, as illustrated by this map showing known biodiversity patterns and human impacts. Credit: National Geographic / Tittensor, et al. (2010) / Census of Marine Life. 7 LIFE IN A CHANGING OCEAN Vulnerability: How can we effectively monitor loss of functions or services in marine ecosystems to understand how far we can erode standing stocks of a species before collapsing the functions they provide? Which aspects of ecosystem functions and services are most vulnerable to collapse, and which can be restored (and how) when lost? Can a given ecosystem remain functional in alternative states, and what are the reference points to determine when an ecosystem functions properly and when it does not? n Socio-economic implications: What is the global (economic and non-monetary) value of various habitats from the intertidal to the deep sea and to what extent does this value depend on biodiversity? How does regional variation in culture and resource use affect the relationship between ecosystem function and services? n In addition to being highly productive and diverse ecosystems, coral reefs provide habitat and food for a wide variety of marine life. Reefs also serve as important barriers that help protect the coast from the effect of waves, storms, and even tsunamis. Shown here are views of coral reefs at Los Roques, off the coast of Venezuela. Credit: Eduardo Klein, Universidad Simón Bolívar. 8 The plans for “Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functions and Services” include the following activities: Organize workshops to synthesize current knowledge on biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships in marine systems, to find gaps in our knowledge and technologies, and build bridges between natural and socio-economical sciences. n Develop several concurrent experiments that undertake globallyreplicated experiments in well-studied systems (such as reefs and seagrass beds); integrate new, standardized technologies to undertake a broad-scale analysis of biodiversity (from microbial to macrobial species) and functions at different spatial scales with a particular focus on poorly known ecosystems; and include new integrated socio-economic studies on ecosystem functions and services to close knowledge gaps across different regions. n PROVIDING TOOLS FOR SUSTAINABLE OCEAN USE Undertake ecosystem modeling to evaluate and generate future scenarios on real-world biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships in the world’s oceans, and apply socioeconomic models to understand spatio-temporal variability in ecosystem services across the world’s oceans. n Key deliverables: Planned deliverables for this theme include global maps on variability and vulnerability of biodiversity-ecosystem function in the global ocean (public outreach through the web); sciencebased evaluation of ecosystem services in different regions; determination of tipping points of ecosystem functions and services with global and local environmental changes; future projections on ecosystem service changes under different economic scenarios; guidelines on ecosystem management for stakeholders and policy makers; and scientific papers on topics such as biodiversity and ecosystem function, technological capabilities and new applications, valuation of different habitats, and functional impacts of food web alterations. Biodiversity and Human Exploitation Studies of oceans past have shed substantial new light on the problem of shifting baselines and show us that everywhere we look there is potential to know much more about the past. Regional studies around the world performed under the Census of Marine Life showed all studied regions faced the same threats to biodiversity, with overfishing and pollution as the main threats and with additional impacts from invasive non-native species, temperature changes, acidification, and hypoxia. Effective science-based marine management requires information on historical baselines (species diversity, distribution, and abundance), as well as an understanding of the nature and dynamics of driving forces over different time-scales (annual, decadal, centennial, millennial). Therefore, we need historical perspectives to elucidate temporal trends to forecast scenarios of when and where change might occur and which changes will cause the most profound impacts. Recent research suggests greater impacts of human pressures when they act in concert and with natural forces of change, rather than individually, but little is known about how these threats interact to impact marine populations, species, and ecosystems. Human populations will continue to grow in the coming decades, increasing demand for living and nonliving resources from the sea. This theme will address how to meet this demand while maintaining marine populations and ecosystems and aiding the recovery of depleted species. Possibly up to a billion kinds of microbes inhabit the global ocean, and by weight, comprise up to 90 percent of marine biomass. Their roles in ecosystem functions and services are many and varied, most importantly their roles in key nutrient cycles in the global ocean, with much more to be learned about how they help to maintain balance. This photosynthetic filamentous cyanobacterium Lyngbya –about a half millimeter long– serves as an example of the beauty, variety, and uniqueness of the ocean’s hidden majority. Credit: David Patterson, MBL, used under license. The objectives of this Life in a Changing Ocean theme are to: Analyze past and present data to help determine how humans have, and are, impacting biodiversity in the world’s oceans; and n D������������������������������������������������������������ efine what management strategies might best assist in ensuring sustainable utilization of global marine resources. n The key questions to answer in meeting these objectives are: Change: How have marine ecosystems changed since first human impacts? How do the effects of anthropogenic activities vary among different populations, species, assemblages, and ecosystems? n Processes/mechanisms: What are the nature and scale of processes /mechanisms behind the reorganization of marine community structure and assemblages associated with biodiversity changes, and are they driven by human pressures on marine ecosystems? n Anthropogenic impacts: How can we utilize available data to evaluate individual and cumulative anthropogenic impacts on marine ecosystems and their services? n Sustainibility: What is needed to achieve sustainability? Why do some management strategies succeed where others fail to recover depleted populations and modified ecosystems? How do recovery strategies vary for different species and ecosystems, and are there any general patterns? How does the number and identity of species in an ecosystem influence the ecosystem’s capacity to resist or recover from human disturbances? n 9 LIFE IN A CHANGING OCEAN Marine polar biodiversity is under growing pressure from both climate change and resource development. A decrease in ice cover is already diminishing the habitat of polar bears, Ursus maritimus, and further decreases will allow more shipping along the Northwest Passage and subsequent increases in the potential risk of oil spills, introduction of alien species, and the exploration and exploitation of seafloor resources. These last pristine areas are under threat and our knowledge of species and ecosystem function and resilience is very limited. Without better knowledge, it will be difficult to craft sound management actions for these under-explored regions. Credit: Rolf Gradinger, University of Alaska, Fairbanks. The plans for “Biodiversity and Human Exploitation” include the following activities: Conduct collaborative studies in marine environmental history to track the nature and scale of reorganization of marine biodiversity as a result of human impacts. n Analyze the impacts of interacting, synergistic, and cumulative human activities across regional marine ecosystems. n Extract and synthesize knowledge on sustainability and recoveries of marine populations and ecosystems. n Apply modeling tools to forecast scenarios of impacts of various external factors on marine ecosystems, including on ecosystem functions in collaboration with the theme on “Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functions and Services” and on poorly studied regions and marine ecosystems, so as to build a global understanding and synthesis. n Key deliverables: Planned deliverables for this theme include publications on “Oceans Past” from two global conferences in 2012 and 2014; scientific papers and books based on marine population case studies in the North, Baltic, Mediterranean, and Black Seas and New Zealand; regional and global synthesis publications, such as on past-presentfuture biodiversity in European Seas, recovery of depleted populations and ecosystems globally, a set of ecological indicators applied across multiple fished ecosystems to assess ecosystem status and examine combined effects of human 10 impacts; indicators of recovery /depletion of populations and ecosystems, including changes in biodiversity, linked to management strategies and decisions, and models elucidating the comparative recovery /depletion of several selected marine ecosystems. Integration and Communication of Life in a Changing Ocean Results for Scientific and Societal Benefit The three Life in a Changing Ocean themes will work individually and in concert to achieve their scientific objectives. They will utilize a variety of approaches that include workshops, new field studies and laboratory experiments, and data integration, analysis and synthesis. Workshops will set research priorities, identify approaches for field studies and laboratory experiments to be conducted under the themes, compare and apply data integration and modeling tools, and synthesize results. Each theme level will develop information and tools for non-academic users of scientific information, as well as to be reported in peer-reviewed publications. Life in a Changing Ocean will bring together the global community to develop and advance common goals, generate analyses that span from regional to global scales, and consider oceans past, present, and future. In addition to the theme-level deliverables identified above, the program will develop integrated “state of the ocean” documents at regular intervals, such as every three years to coincide with the World Conferences on Marine PROVIDING TOOLS FOR SUSTAINABLE OCEAN USE Biodiversity. These reports, which will be written for a diverse stakeholder audience, will summarize the state of knowledge and articulate unknowns about ocean biodiversity, emphasizing the advances achieved through Life in a Changing Ocean activities. Results from research and analyses performed in each thematic component and the integrated products will be communicated for a broad audience of users of marine biodiversity information, such as policy makers, resource managers, industry, and the general public. An ongoing dialogue with user groups will be initiated at the outset of the Life in a Changing Ocean program. This dialogue, as well as presentation of the information and products, will be facilitated through national and international partnerships with other scientific organizations, conservation organizations, and governmental and intergovernmental agencies. Partnerships will utilize existing expertise and networks in reaching various mission-focused organizations and enhance the value and use of Life in a Changing Ocean’s scientific information toward sustainable ocean practices. The Census of Marine Life demonstrated the value of a strong outreach component. Life in a Changing Ocean will use those lessons to develop a strategic outreach program that communicates a cohesive, integrated program, develops targeted products to meet public user needs, and leverages visuals of the multitude of ocean life to reach millions around the world. The outreach team will incorporate communications and outreach specialists and policy experts to make sure activities and messages are appropriate and effective. SCIENCE PLANNING COMMITTEE Paul Snelgrove Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, chair Patricia Miloslavich Universidad Simón Bolívar, Venezuela, vice-chair Linda Amaral-Zettler Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, United States Philippe Archambault Université du Québec-Rimouski, Canada S.T. Balasubramanian Annamalai University, India Richard Brinkman Australian Institute of Marine Science, Australia Roberto Danovaro Polytechnic University of Marche, Italy Xinzheng Li Institute of Oceanology, China Masahiro Nakaoka Hokkaido University, Japan Henn Ojaveer University of Tartu, Estonia Eva Ramirez-Llodra Institut de Ciències del Mar, CSIC, Spain Lynne Shannon University of Cape Town, South Africa George Shillinger Center for Ocean Solutions, United States In 1958, after an excursion on a Key West (Florida, USA) charter boat, a family of recreational fishers displayed their trophies, especially large groupers, subfamily Epinephelinae. In 2007, the size of the fish displayed by the same charter enterprise had plummeted, and the mix of species had changed. Credit: Monroe County Library (left) and (below) Loren McClenachan, Simon Fraser University. 11 LIFE IN A CHANGING OCEAN Life in a Changing Ocean info @ lifeinachangingocean.org www.lifeinachangingocean.org Life in a Changing Ocean building on the success of the CENSUS OF MARINE LIFE Moon jellies, Aurelia aurita, Sado Island, Japan, July 2008. Credit: Koji Nakamura, Galatée Films. 12