In the last decades, marine reserves have dramatically increased in number worldwide. Here I examined the potential of no-take marine reserves to reestablish lost predatory interactions and, in turn, cause community-wide changes in Mediterranean rocky reefs. Protected locations supported higher density and size of the most effective fish preying on sea urchins (the sea breams Diplodus sargus an...

Large-scale hatchery releases are carried out for many marine fish species worldwide; nevertheless, the long-term effects of this practice on the genetic structure of natural populations remains unclear. The lack of knowledge is especially evident when independent stock enhancement programs are conducted simultaneously on the same species at different geographical locations, as occurs with red ...

Indirect-developing sea urchins eventually form an adult rudiment on the left side through differential left-right development in the late larval stages. Components of the adult rudiment, such as the hydropore canal, the hydrocoel and the primary vestibule, all develop on the left side alone, and are the initial morphological traits that exhibit left-right differences. Although it has previousl...

More than 100 research articles have referred to an experimental study by Feldkamp (1987) on the California sea lion, which mentions that its body resembles a symmetric airfoil, NACA 66018. We believe that perhaps an oversimplification has been made in this comparison. This conclusion may be arrived at by shifting the leading and trailing edges of the contour of the sea lion in order to move th...

We assessed the influence of rock cavities, or pits, on the growth dynamics and behavior of the purple sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. In a paired-designed, laboratory experiment, sea urchins were assigned to sandstone blocks that were either 'Flat' or had a 'Pit' drilled into the center. At the start, both groups were approximately the same shape and size. In just 2 months, the shap...

The primary focus of this project is the analysis of data from the Philippine Sea (PhilSea) experiments in 2009-2011. Data from previous ONR-sponsored deep water experiments may also be analyzed. The specific objectives of the project are: 1) to characterize the ambient noise in the PhilSea data set using spectral analysis and to compare the results to those for other deep water data sets; 2) t...

The Wisconsin glaciation was started a approximately 125,000 years ago and reached its lowest extend between 20,000 to 21,000 years ago during which the sea level fell 120 to 130 meter. At the end of the ice age, about 18,000 years ago, the sea level increased and reached its present level about 5,000 years ago. The Persian Gulf was exposed in the last glacial moment (LGM). After this moment, t...

(1) Analyze and model sea surface scattering measurements, and sea surface environmental measurements, made during the Asian Seas International Acoustics Experiment (ASIAEX) conducted in the East China Sea (May-June 2001). The acoustic data consist of measurements of vertical coherence for single and multiple-interaction forward scattering from the sea surface, made simultaneous with measuremen...

The main purpose of this study is the survey of the atmospheric low pressure effects at sea level oscillations in the Qeshm Channel. For this purpose, the curves of the pressure on the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea, during the passing of the atmospheric low pressure system, are extracted across the region. During the time of occurrence of these events, sea level oscillations in the coastal areas of...