Ocean wanderers: A lab-based investigation into the effect of wind and morphology on the drift of Physalia spp.

Physalia spp., or Man-of-War, drifts in tropical and subtropical waters, transported by ocean surface conditions. Its unique drifting behavior, influenced by dimorphism (left or right-handedness), complicates stranding predictions.

A connectivity-based eco-regionalization method of the Mediterranean Sea.

Ecoregionalization of the ocean is a necessary step for spatial management of marine resources. Previous ecoregionalization efforts were based either on the distribution of species or on the distribution of physical and biogeochemical properties. These approaches ignore the dispersal of species by oceanic circulation that can connect regions and isolates others.

Floating debris in the Ligurian Sea, north-western Mediterranean.

Results from visual sightings of large floating debris are presented, taken in the Ligurian Sea, a sub-basin of the north-western Mediterranean Sea which belongs to the recently stated "Cetacean Sanctuary". Data have been collected during three oceanographic cruises, during the summer of 1997 and 2000. Results for the 1997 data suggest a debris density of the order of 15-25 objects km(-2), while for the 2000 data, a lower density of the order of 3-1.