Marine Life & Conservation Blogs
First Steps to becoming a Marine Biologist
I am currently a student at the University of Hull, just got accepted, and I just went on to do my first year of Marine and Freshwater biology. I recommend going into this subject because there are so many various routes of which can be taken, career wise, from this course. I, for instance, am going to go on to doing freelance Marine Biology and specialize in Marine Mega-fauna e.g. whales, sharks, dolphins, sea turtles etc. Basically, any large marine creatures of interest.
The course consists of three years. This is how it is broken down:
First year:
You will learn:
-Diversity of life
-Get an introduction into genetics
-Learn molecular and cell biology
-Are provided field and laboratory skills for those Aquatic Biologist out there
-Ecology and Evolution
Then you get to choose one free elective e.g. chemistry of life, biology book club, Dive training etc…
I personally have chosen my free elective to be dive training as it will be beneficial towards my course.
Second year:
You will learn:
-Professional and research skills for MFW Biologists
-Marine Biology and Biotechnology
-Evolutionary Ecology and the Physiology of Animals
-Molecular Biology of the cell
-Freshwater Biology
-Behavioural Ecology
-Fish Ecology
-Conservation
-Evolution
and obviously one free elective
Third year:
This is the year when you get the chance to do your own research project or biology work placement.
You will cover all of the following before you choose what research project you wish to do and how you’re going to do it:
-The sensory physiology of animals
-Marine structure and functioning
-Behavioural ecology and functioning
-Fisheries resource management
-Current biology
-Reviews within biological sciences
-Concepts within ecology
-Freshwater ecology/management
-Marine ecomechanics
-Topics in Biodiversity and evolution
-Field studies
-Environment and society
and your one free elective
This course is brilliant for those interested in going into something Marine based.
Also, don’t get me started on all the places you will get to travel to. You can take field trips with your course group to places such as:
-Portugal
-Millport
-Tobago
-Brazil
-Cuba
-Mallorca
-Indonesia
-Arran
Just remember your passport, inoculations before you go and lots and lots of bug spray.
So if anyone is interested in Marine Biology or anything similar to that; Hull University is the place to go. It is a beautiful place and you feel so at home when you are there, that you will never want to leave.
I recommend going there, it’s a brilliant place to get a brilliant degree!
Marine Life & Conservation Blogs
Creature Feature: Dusky Shark
In this series, the Shark Trust will be sharing amazing facts about different species of sharks and what you can do to help protect them.
This month we’re taking a look at the Dusky Shark, a highly migratory species with a particularly slow growth rate and late age at maturity.
Dusky sharks are one of the largest species within the Carcharhinus genus, generally measuring 3 metres total length but able to reach up to 4.2 metres. They are grey to grey-brown on their dorsal side and their fins usually have dusky margins, with the darkest tips on the caudal fin.
Dusky Sharks can often be confused with other species of the Carcharhinus genus, particularly the Galapagos Shark (Carcharhinus galapagensis). They have very similar external morphology, so it can be easier to ID to species level by taking location into account as the two species occupy very different ecological niches – Galapagos Sharks prefer offshore seamounts and islets, whilst duskies prefer continental margins.
Hybridisation:
A 2019 study found that Dusky Sharks are hybridising with Galapagos Sharks on the Eastern Tropical Pacific (Pazmiño et al., 2019). Hybridisation is when an animal breeds with an individual of another species to produce offspring (a hybrid). Hybrids are often infertile, but this study found that the hybrids were able to produce second generation hybrids!
Long distance swimmers:
Dusky sharks are highly mobile species, undertaking long migrations to stay in warm waters throughout the winter. In the Northern Hemisphere, they head towards the poles in the summer and return southwards towards the equator in winter. The longest distance recorded was 2000 nautical miles!
Very slow to mature and reproduce:
The Dusky Shark are both targeted and caught as bycatch globally. We already know that elasmobranchs are inherently slow reproducers which means that they are heavily impacted by overfishing; it takes them so long to recover that they cannot keep up with the rate at which they are being fished. Dusky Sharks are particularly slow to reproduce – females are only ready to start breeding at roughly 20 years old, their gestation periods can last up to 22 months, and they only give birth every two to three years. This makes duskies one of the most vulnerable of all shark species.
The Dusky Shark is now listed on Appendix II of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS), but further action is required to protect this important species.
Scientific Name: Carcharhinus obscurus
Family: Carcharhinidae
Maximum Size: 420cm (Total Length)
Diet: Bony fishes, cephalopods, can also eat crustaceans, and small sharks, skates and rays
Distribution: Patchy distribution in tropical and warm temperate seas; Atlantic, Indo-Pacific and Mediterranean.
Habitat: Ranges from inshore waters out to the edge of the continental shelf.
Conservation status: Endangered.
For more great shark information and conservation visit the Shark Trust Website
Images: Andy Murch
Diana A. Pazmiño, Lynne van Herderden, Colin A. Simpfendorfer, Claudia Junge, Stephen C. Donnellan, E. Mauricio Hoyos-Padilla, Clinton A.J. Duffy, Charlie Huveneers, Bronwyn M. Gillanders, Paul A. Butcher, Gregory E. Maes. (2019). Introgressive hybridisation between two widespread sharks in the east Pacific region, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 136(119-127), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2019.04.013.
Marine Life & Conservation Blogs
Creature Feature: Undulate Ray
In this series, the Shark Trust will be sharing amazing facts about different species of sharks and what you can do to help protect them.
This month we’re looking at the Undulate Ray. Easily identified by its beautiful, ornate pattern, the Undulate Ray gets its name from the undulating patterns of lines and spots on its dorsal side.
This skate is usually found on sandy or muddy sea floors, down to about 200 m deep, although it is more commonly found shallower. They can grow up to 90 cm total length. Depending on the size of the individual, their diet can range from shrimps to crabs.
Although sometimes called the Undulate Ray, this is actually a species of skate, meaning that, as all true skates do, they lay eggs. The eggs are contained in keratin eggcases – the same material that our hair and nails are made up of! These eggcases are also commonly called mermaid’s purses and can be found washed up on beaches all around the UK. If you find one, be sure to take a picture and upload your find to the Great Eggcase Hunt – the Shark Trust’s flagship citizen science project.
It is worth noting that on the south coasts, these eggcases can be confused with those of the Spotted Ray, especially as they look very similar and the ranges overlap, so we sometimes informally refer to them as ‘Spundulates’.
Scientific Name: Raja undulata
Family: Rajidae
Maximum Size: 90cm (total length)
Diet: shrimps and crabs
Distribution: found around the eastern Atlantic and in the Mediterranean Sea.
Habitat: shelf waters down to 200m deep.
Conservation Status : As a commercially exploited species, the Undulate Ray is a recovering species in some areas. The good thing is that they have some of the most comprehensive management measures of almost any elasmobranch species, with both minimum and maximum landing sizes as well as a closed season. Additionally, targeting is entirely prohibited in some areas. They are also often caught as bycatch in various fisheries – in some areas they can be landed whilst in others they must be discarded.
IUCN Red List Status: Endangered
For more great shark information and conservation visit the Shark Trust Website
Image Credits: Banner – Sheila Openshaw; Illustration – Marc Dando
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