News

The Global Biogeochemical Argo Fleet: Knowledge to Action (https://www.go-bgc.org/event/k2aworkshop) workshop will be held virtually over a series of Tuesdays in May (4, 11, 18, 25) and June (1). The workshop will explore the applications of a global data-stream from the Biogeochemical-Argo array in fisheries, carbon budget verification, and environmental forecasting, and will consider needs and perspectives of policy makers, and discussions regarding future support for the array.

Please visit the workshop website (https://www.go-bgc.org/event/k2aworkshop) for more information and to register (it’s free!), and to access a provisional agenda.

The International Ocean Colour Coordinating Group (IOCCG) and the GlobalHAB programme have published the report on the observation of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) with ocean colour radiometry as IOCCG Report Number 20, 2021.

The report was edited by Stewart Bernard, Raphael Kudela, Lisl Robertson Lain and Grant Pitcher with contributions from more than 20 co-authors.

The report can be found at: https://ioccg.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/ioccg_report_20-habs-2021-web.pdf

The report is also available through the Ocean Best Practices platform using the doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.25607/OBP-1042.

In the context of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, the initiative is dedicated to setting up a framework that builds on understanding how human interactions with the Southern Ocean can benefit society in ways that will also protect and conserve the unique characteristics of this region. The framework of a Southern Ocean Action plan will be developed by the Southern Ocean Task Force under the coordination of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), with the collaboration of the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS), the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) the International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE), among several others.

This framework will allow the Southern Ocean community to inform the UN Decade of Ocean Science on priorities and activities in parallel with the Ocean Decade.

Please visit:  www.sodecade.org

Follow them on Twitter @SODecade to stay up-to-date with their progress.

SOLAS invites the community to attend their sessions and other SOLAS-relevant sessions at the EGU 2021 General Assembly.

Date: 19-30 April 2021

These are found in the following link: https://mailchi.mp/5a604dda9204/solas-announcement-xmas-v-programme-announced-4742210?e=cfea415923

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research in partnership with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO are inviting to the virtual High-Level Launch of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development in Berlin.

Date: 1 June 2021 from 11 am to 3 pm (CEST) (online)

The High-Level Launch will also provide an introduction to the seven virtual Ocean Decade Laboratories, that will take place from July 2021 to May 2022 and that aim to catalyze partnerships and evoke discussions and dialogues on key themes of the Ocean Decade.

For further details, please subscribe to the info mail via: www.oceandecade-conference.com

The IQOE, one of SCOR’s research projects was launched in 2015 with the goal of documenting how sound in the ocean has changed over time and how ocean sound affects marine organisms.

Please follow the IQOE’s news and updates on Twitter at: @IQOE_Int

Snapshot of some of the active cameras during the IIOE-2 SC4 meeting

The Steering Committee of the IIOE-2 met virtually from the 12-15 of April 2021 organized by the IIOE-2 Joint Project Office (JPO) through hits respective nodes at the Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) and UNESCO IOC Perth Programme Office. The meeting was chaired by Marie-Alexandrine Sicre (SCOR) and by Satheesh Shenoi (INCOIS), co-chairs of the Steering Committee of the IIOE-2 with Vladimir Ryabinin (IOC). Marie-Alexandrine (France) succeeded former co-chair Peter Burkill (UK) who stepped down in October 2020. The meeting was attended by more than 70participants representing more than 45 organisations from 14 countries.

A full agenda and links to background documents including the presentations can be found at: https://iioe-2.incois.gov.in/IIOE-2/SC4_agenda.jsp

Reports on national activities were delivered by chairs or representatives of IIOE-2 National Committees. Subsequent progress reports of WG 1 (Science and Research), WG2 (Data and Information Management) and WG3 (Operational Coordination) highlighted important achievements made on publications, data and information management as well as communication.

Vladimir Ryabinin then provided an update on the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable development and feedbacks on IIOE-2 endorsement request.

During Day 2 and 3 of the meeting, progress reports of the science themes were delivered by the chairs. This was followed by presentations from invited projects, the Early Career Scientists Network, and results of GEOTRACES in the Indian Ocean.

An open Science Symposium was held on Day 4, with six long (15 minute) talks and seven flash (5 minute) talks on a diversity of topics including features of the Southern Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean fisheries and variability, biological oceanography in upwelling regions, ocean circulation, climate change and extreme events in the Indian Ocean, among others.

IIOE-2 co-chairs Marie Alexandrine Sicre (SCOR), Satheesh Shenoi (INCOIS), Vladimir Ryabinin (SCOR) with members of the IIOE-2 Secretariat, Nick D’Adamo (UNESCO IOC Perth Programme Office) and Satya Prakash (INCOS), and Korean representative Dong-Jin Kang (KIOST).

The Second World Ocean Assessment (WOA II), the major output of the second cycle of the Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the States of the Marine Environment, including Socioeconomic Aspects, will be launched on 21 April 2021, in connection with Earth Day 2021 which will be observed on 22 April. It is the newest outcome of the only integrated assessment of the world’s ocean at the global level covering all three pillars of sustainable development. 

The first World Ocean Assessment (WOA I), which was released at the end of 2015, established a baseline for measuring the state of marine environment, including socioeconomic aspects. WOA II focuses on trends observed since the publication of WOA I and current gaps in knowledge and capacity.  

The launch event will be streaming on 21 April 2021 at 10 a.m., EDT at the following webpage: https://www.un.org/regularprocess/woa2launch

Speakers are:

• António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General
• Sylvia Earle, President & Chair, Mission Blue
• Vladimir Ryabinin, Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and Assistant Director General of UNESCO
• Juliette Babb-Riley, Deputy Permanent Representative of Barbados to the United Nations, Co-Chair of the second cycle of the Regular Process 
• Sanae Chiba, Member of the Group of Experts for the second cycle of the Regular Process, Biological oceanographer of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology 
• Shafira Charlette, youth representative, Seychelles

See the latest activities from SCOR working groups and projects at:

https://conta.cc/2OMUpRd