Meet the Weird and Wonderful Wobbegong

The Indo-Pacific region has long been renowned for its abundant and biodiverse ecosystems. The waters of this part of the world provide a particularly ideal environment for many sharks, with more than 200 of an estimated 500 known species documented as being identified in these tropical waters. There is one shark species, however, that proves to be both peculiar and phenomenally fascinating at the same time. Ocean lovers, meet the tasseled wobbegong, whose trademark look may surprise you: This shark has a beard! 

Before we dive into this species’ quirky beard-like appearance, you’re probably wondering … “What on earth is a wobbegong?” The short answer is that (surprise!) this is a type of small shark, a “carpet shark” to be exact. The word “wobbegong” has its roots in Australian aboriginal language, and though there’s no exact translation into the English language, many speculate the term to mean “living rock.”

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These carpet- and rock-like references really make sense for the species. As bottom-dwellers thriving at depths of up to 131 feet that are most active at night, they have flat bodies with blotchy, dark, muted coloring. This appearance allows them to blend in seamlessly with the sandy, rocky seafloor below. But this is only where their status as camouflage experts begins! The tasseled wobbegongs are decorated with a whisker-like appendage known as barbels, giving them a shaggy, bearded appearance. These barbels serve as sensory organs that help wobbegongs detect movement and target prey nearby. 

Once a potential target has been identified, a wobbegong—carefully lying still and flat as a carpet against the seafloor—waves its tail to imitate the movement of smaller fish that their prey might be hunting. Once the prey is close enough, the camouflaged shark will suddenly lunge forward, suctioning their victim into their powerful jaws and clamping down with needle-sharp teeth (they may even consume them in one big gulp). While a typical meal for these sharks includes species like crustaceans, small octopuses and even smaller sharks, wobbegongs are known to be truly audacious predators. Some have even been seen dislocating their jaws to consume prey most would deem far too large for them; there’s even documentation of a wobbegong attempting to consume a shark that was about 80% of its own size! While it was able only to consume the prey up to its head, the instance demonstrates just how motivated wobbegongs are when it comes to food.

It would be absolutely appropriate to describe wobbegongs as some of the ocean’s greatest masters of disguise. However, even species most equipped with camouflage are unable to hide from our ocean’s greatest threats such as plastic pollution. 

At Ocean Conservancy, we’re working to ensure our ocean is biodiverse, healthy and able to thrive for years to come. Visit our Action Center today to learn all the latest ways you can join us in advocating for a healthy ocean, forever and for everyone—including the wild and wonderful wobbegong.

The post Meet the Weird and Wonderful Wobbegong appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

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Master of Disguise: The Decorator Crab

Imagine yourself snorkeling through a lush kelp forest off the coast of Southern California. Sunlight filters through the dense canopy of the forest, casting shimmering patterns on the rocky seafloor below. The underwater world appears peaceful and still—until your gaze falls on what seems to be an ordinary-looking rock. 

Then… the rock moves.

At first, you assume it’s just the ocean’s current shifting the rock. But as you take a closer look, you realize it’s not a rock at all. It seems to be a crab, expertly hidden with bits of algae from its surroundings. Meet the decorator crab: a master of disguise and possibly the most stylish and secretive crab in our ocean.

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What are decorator crabs?

Decorator crabs constitute several species of crabs that belong to the superfamily Majoidea, a group of crustaceans with a remarkable talent for camouflage. They use tiny, hook-like structures on their shells to attach pieces of algae, seaweed and other marine debris onto their bodies. But this isn’t just a quirky fashion statement—these natural accessories help decorator crabs avoid predators, like pacific halibut, octopuses and sea otters, by blending in with their surrounds. 

If they move to a new environment, decorator crabs will adapt their wardrobe to match. Some take their disguises a step further, attaching living organisms like sponges and venomous anemones to their carapaces—the hard upper shell that protects the crab’s vital organs. This not only helps the crabs blend in but also offers an extra layer of defense. Even when they shed their exoskeleton in a process called molting, some crabs will carefully transfer their decorations to their fresh shell.

You can also identify decorator crabs because they are decapods, meaning they have ten legs—two pinchers for feeding and four additional pairs of legs for walking. Decorator crabs are primarily omnivores and use their pinchers to pluck small algae out of crevices and off the sea floor. 

Decorator crabs are solitary animals for most of the year outside of mating season from May to September. You’ll find decorator crabs in shallow coastal waters around the world, from coral reefs and rocky shorelines to kelp forests, seagrass beds and tidal pools. You may have to keep a close eye out for decorator crabs, though, as their average size is only three to five inches across their leg span. 

How can you help decorator crabs?

While decorator crabs aren’t currently endangered, they depend on a thriving ocean to survive. Like all marine life, they face threats from pollution, habitat destruction and climate change. Protecting our ocean means protecting creatures like them.

Ocean Conservancy is dedicated to safeguarding our ocean from today’s greatest challenges, from plastic pollution to climate change. But we can’t do it alone. Visit the Ocean Conservancy Action Center to learn how you can help defend our ocean, its wildlife and the communities that depend on it.

The post Master of Disguise: The Decorator Crab appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

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Indigenous Cultures and Environmental Management

Barbara ‘Wáahlaal Gidaak Blake is the Vice President for Ocean Conservancy, leading the Arctic & Northern Waters Program. A dedicated advocate for Indigenous rights and environmental stewardship, she has an extensive background in Alaska Native policy and governance, having served in key leadership roles at the state and tribal levels. With deep roots in Haida, Tlingit, and Ahtna Athabascan heritage, she is a passionate cultural practitioner and a committed leader. 

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Our food is so much more than calories and nutrients. Our favorite dishes connect us to people, places and times that matter in our lives. For Alaska Native Peoples, our traditional foods do all this and more. For us, food is not just a matter of what we eat, but also the ways we gather that food, the ways we store and prepare it, and the milestones in our lives that center around food. It connects us to our ancestors, demonstrates a balance of care for our non-human beings (our kin in the natural world) and is our connection to our spirituality in maintaining that balance. 

Image Descriptions

Image 1: K’alaagáa Íihlangaa (Nathaniel) Blake harvesting salmon along a river in Dzantik’i Héeni (Juneau), Alaska.

Image 2: K’alaagáa Íihlangaa (Nathaniel) Blake receiving a Halibut Hook and listening to Tlingit teachings from his uncle Xeetli.éesh (Lyle) James. Xeetli.éesh was one of many leaders who stood to acknowledge this moment and gift knowledge and tools to aid K’alaagáa Íihlangaa as he grows in the responsibility to care and provide for his community.

Image 3: K’alaagáa Íihlangaa (Nathaniel) Blake, learning from his great great uncle, Dennis Demmert, how to clean, filet, and prepare a salmon.

Our ability to carry on our ways, to sustain the cultures and knowledge that have existed for countless generations, is too often minimized if not directly threatened by today’s systems of managing lands, waters, hunting, fishing and gathering. Understandably, caring for and stewarding our lands, waters and non-human relatives requires a holistic approach that honors the interconnectedness of the natural web of life. Keeping plant and animal populations healthy is an essential foundation for human life. Economics also factors in: What value do we gain from a healthy environment and what is the cost of keeping it that way? Culture, however, is all too often ignored.

In a recently published essay, Ocean Conservancy staff joined several Alaska Native authors and researchers who have long worked with Alaska Native communities, to explore what it would mean to place Indigenous cultures at the heart of wildlife and fisheries management. This is not to ignore ecology and economics, but simply to recognize that among many possible decisions, only some have the effect of supporting Indigenous cultural vitality and continuity. In other words, we have choices about who can harvest fish and animals, who can access lands and waters. Those choices matter. It is also a reminder that as we center the continuity of cultural relationships with the natural world, we are protecting the entire web for all who depend on continued harvesting for their ways of life. 

K’alaagáa Íihlangaa (Nathaniel) Blake harvesting Gagán xil (Labrador tea) with his mother, grandmother, and little sister.

Long-term solutions require lasting, respectful relationships with our surroundings and all those with whom we share our planet. Indigenous Peoples have demonstrated what it takes to create and sustain those relationships for centuries and millennia. Today, more than ever, we need to pay close attention to those hard-won lessons. Making choices that celebrate and uplift cultural practices of Indigenous peoples is the best place to start. This approach is central to Ocean Conservancy’s Arctic and Northern Waters conservation work. Please join us in sharing these ideas with all who care about the future of our ocean.

The post Indigenous Cultures and Environmental Management appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

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We Need NOAA to Keep Fishing Communities Strong

The United States has long recognized the link between our ocean and our economy. For nearly 50 years, bipartisan congressional leadership has designed and built a world-class science and management system with the goal of conserving our living marine resources for the good of the American people. Today, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) supports that vision by helping us better understand, predict and protect the ocean and coastal communities from threats that could upend our economy and our way of life. 

NOAA’s impact is especially felt in America’s fishing communities, which put billions of pounds of seafood on plates nationwide and provide millions of people with recreational opportunities. Through NOAA Fisheries’ essential science, enforcement and management, the United States has some of the most productive fisheries in the world—but that wasn’t always the case. 

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Just a few decades ago, overfishing was rampant and many fisheries faced devastating stock collapses. Congress and past administrations worked together with industry, scientists and the public to build a better system with NOAA at the helm. Thanks to NOAA’s sustainable management, our fisheries are healthier and our seafood supply is safe. Today, its role is more important than ever as pollution, warming waters and industrialization threaten to push American fisheries back to their limit. 

Read Our Fact Sheet on How NOAA Keeps Fishing Communities Strong

NOAA provides critical science and support to fishing businesses and communities. NOAA’s fishery surveys and data collection efforts form the basis of our science-based fishery management system. Without this information, managers would not have the latest information and would be flying blind when setting catch levels for important stocks like pollock, salmon, red snapper, cod, tuna and more.

Since fishing is a deeply local industry, NOAA Fisheries has a presence in coastal areas across the country in order to better support community needs. The fishery management system that NOAA supports is a uniquely collaborative effort that empowers state managers, fishermen and others to contribute to fishery management so that decisions are tailored to the needs of fisheries in each region. The expertise of NOAA’s scientists, managers, liaisons, communicators and more helps ensure that NOAA’s science and decisions meet the needs of the fishing industry and fishing communities around the nation.

All parts of NOAA support the business of fishing and the seafood industry. Fishermen rely on accurate weather forecasts to make decisions about whether and where to fish and how to do so safely. NOAA provides nautical charts and tide information that support safe maritime navigation for fishermen and for the vessels that transport seafood around the United States and the globe. Coastal communities also need to know about hazards in the marine environment. Through NOAA’s work to understand red tides, fishermen and coastal visitors can avoid affected areas to ensure safe waters. 

Congress has long invested in the safety, stability and future wellbeing of communities across the country by supporting NOAA so that it can provide life-saving weather forecasting and emergency preparedness services, conduct scientific research and restore and maintain our coasts and marine resources for the benefit of the American people. Now more than ever, we need Congress to support NOAA’s critical programs and services. 

For more than 35 years, Ocean Conservancy has worked to find practical solutions to the challenging problems facing our fisheries. We have seen the impact NOAA has on ensuring we have healthy fish populations and thriving fishing businesses in the United States. Disrupting the regular and timely provisioning of these science and service products, whether it be through loss of critical staff and capacity, closing programs and offices, ending science and surveys, or other such cuts, will result in direct and lasting harm to coastal communities, businesses and the American people. Take action now to stand up for NOAA.

Ocean Conservancy is working to protect the ocean from today’s greatest global challenges. Together with our partners, we create evidence-based solutions for a healthy ocean and the wildlife and communities that depend on it.

The post We Need NOAA to Keep Fishing Communities Strong appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

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Plastic Pollution’s Toll on Seabirds

This blog was co-written by Dan Berkson and Hannah De Frond. Hannah works with Ocean Conservancy and the University of Toronto Trash Team to manage the International Trash Trap Network (ITTN), a global network of local groups using trash traps to increase cleanup efforts, engage communities and inform upstream solutions. 

Plastic pollution devastates our ocean, and its impact on marine wildlife—especially seabirds—is severe and far-reaching. Seabirds breed on land but search for food at sea, bringing them into frequent contact with plastic pollution accumulating both along shores and in surface waters worldwide. Unfortunately, ingesting plastics can prove to be deadly for these amazing animals.

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Eating plastics for seabirds can obstruct their digestive systems, preventing them from eating actual food, and leading to starvation. Sometimes it takes only one piece of plastic to block the passage of food. Plastic ingestion has been found in every family of seabird. Below are details on how some species are uniquely impacted by plastic pollution.   

• Northern fulmar: Northern fulmars are surface feeders, diving into the ocean to snag prey. Unfortunately, their foraging habits bring them face to face with floating plastic fragments which they mistake for food. A 2015 study in the Arctic revealed a staggering 90% of northern fulmars studied had plastics in their stomachs. These creatures are so prone to eating plastics that both the Canadian government and OSPAR Commission (the mechanism through which the European Union and 15 other governments cooperate to protect the North East Atlantic marine environment) use this species in their monitoring programs to track long-term trends in ocean plastic pollution. 

• Short-tailed shearwater: Short-tailed shearwaters are also particularly vulnerable to plastic pollution, frequently consuming both rubber—such as balloons—and hard fragments. A 2014 study in Tasmania found plastic in the stomachs of 96% of short-tailed shearwater chicks studied.

• Laysan albatross: The Laysan albatross skims the ocean surface with its beak to hunt for prey. This hunting behavior makes it likely that the albatross will accidentally consume plastic debris like consumer products (e.g., hard fragments, lighters, buttons) or fishing lines. Adult albatrosses also feed their chicks by regurgitating food, unknowingly passing plastics on to their young. A heartbreaking 1997 study on Midway Atoll, a remote Pacific island, found 97.5% of Laysan albatross chicks had plastic in their stomachs.

• Petrel: More than 50% of petrel species are listed as “threatened” or “near threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Petrels often inhabit areas with high concentrations of plastic pollution such as the high seas and mid-ocean gyres. Unlike other seabirds, they struggle to regurgitate plastic. This means the plastics they ingest tend to remain in their bodies for extended periods. 

What can you do?

If we fail to take action, studies predict that 99% of seabird species will ingest plastic by 2050, which is devasting given how vulnerable seabirds are to even the smallest amount of plastic. Ocean Conservancy is committed to protecting our ocean, wildlife and communities from plastic pollution. But we can’t do it alone. Here is how you can join the fight: 

• Reduce plastic use: To tackle our plastic pollution crisis, we need to use less plastic. We can each do our part by avoiding single-use plastics where possible in our daily lives from carrying a reusable water bottle and bag to skipping a straw. These small actions add up and collectively reduce the amount of plastic waste we create, while sending a clear signal to plastic producers that we are fed up with single-use plastics. 

• Clean up plastic pollution before it enters the ocean: Cleaning up plastic waste, whether on the beach, along a river, or in your neighborhood park, helps eliminate the likelihood that it will later be consumed by seabirds or other marine life. One of the best ways to do this is by joining the International Coastal Cleanup^® (ICC). Use our map to find a coordinator planning a cleanup in your region. Want something closer to home? Team up with friends and family to clean up your favorite beach or beloved park. If you see plastic on beaches, shores or elsewhere, remember to clean it up—it could save a seabird’s life.

• Push for policy change: Advocate for legislation to address plastic pollution by holding corporations accountable for the waste they create, expanding support for reuse and refill systems and much more. Visit Ocean Conservancy’s Action Center to see how you can get involved.

The post Plastic Pollution’s Toll on Seabirds appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

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Learnings from the National Working Waterfronts Networks Conference

I recently represented Ocean Conservancy at the National Working Waterfronts Network Conference in San Diego. The conference brought together maritime industry leaders, policymakers and community advocates, all working toward a shared vision for the future of our waterfronts.

As an engineer, former mariner and ocean conservationist I know that decarbonizing our ports requires cross-sector partnerships. The discussions throughout the National Working Waterfronts Network Conference reinforced how essential it is to bring together experts from engineering, policy and workforce development to drive meaningful change towards port decarbonization.

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Throughout the conference, I discussed the need for a comprehensive, systems-level approach that integrates infrastructure investment, regulatory alignment and workforce development. Preparing the workforce for decarbonization is just as crucial as deploying zero-emission technologies. Investments in training programs and workforce development initiatives will equip maritime professionals with the expertise needed for the next generation of sustainable shipping. Collaboration among industry, government and educational institutions should also be used to create comprehensive training programs that align with emerging port technologies and regulatory requirements.

Another highlight of the conference was seeing the eWolf. Designed by the marine company Cowley, the eWolf is the first fully electric tug in the United States. This cutting-edge vessel is 82 feet long and has a 70-ton bollard pull. It is powered by a 6-megawatt-hour battery system that eliminates emissions, equipped with onboard energy management systems to optimize power use and fitted with azimuth thrusters for enhanced maneuverability. This vessel drastically reduces harmful pollutants like nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides and particulate matter, improving air quality for nearby communities while maintaining the performance required for commercial operations. It takes bold industry players like Crowley to lead the way toward port decarbonization—and, let’s be honest, eWolf is just a cool name.

I left the National Working Waterfronts Network Conference with a deeper appreciation for the professionals working to ensure our waterfronts remain vibrant, resilient and sustainable. The challenge ahead is clear: How do we scale these innovations while maintaining the economic viability of our ports and coastal industries? 

The answer lies in open collaboration among industry leaders, policymakers and communities, accelerated adoption of zero-emission technologies, strategic investments in clean-energy infrastructure and bold decision-making prioritizing sustainability and economic growth. That’s why Ocean Conservancy is spearheading projects like the Green Ports Interactive Funding Tracker—an innovative resource that aims to empower port authorities, environmental managers and sustainability experts by providing real-time updates and comprehensive insights into available funding.

Now is the time to turn conversations into action. Ocean Conservancy is committed to working alongside partners across the maritime industry to drive a cleaner, more sustainable future. Take action now to help Ocean Conservancy address today’s biggest threats to our ocean, including the climate crisis and plastic pollution.

The post Learnings from the National Working Waterfronts Networks Conference appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

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