Rising sea temperatures have prompted marine species in the Mediterranean to move deeper into the ocean depths.
Rising sea temperatures have prompted marine species in the Mediterranean to move deeper into the ocean depths.

Mediterranean species move deeper to flee rising sea temps

Due to climate change, the average temperature in the Mediterranean Sea rises by one degree every thirty years, and this rate has been increasing. Because of this, the marine creatures there have been shifting their habitats to the deeper, cooler depths of the ocean.

Researchers reached this conclusion after reviewing research involving the depth distribution of 236 marine species like fish, crustaceans and mollusks collected in previous bottom-trawl surveys.

They discovered that the animals deepened their minimum depth limits in relation to rising sea temperatures.

Schools of planktivorous reef fishes strip the water of plankton, underpinning "sweet spots" of fish biomass production in tropical oceans.
Schools of planktivorous reef fishes strip the water of plankton, underpinning "sweet spots" of fish biomass production in tropical oceans.

Offshore plankton responsible for "sweet spots" at reefs

Plankton and plankton-eating fish play an important part in the productivity of tropical reefs by igniting "sweet spots" of abundance, according to a new study by ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (Coral CoE) and Research Hub for Coral Reef Ecosystem Functions at James Cook University (JCU).