(Press-News.org) Trawling restrictions not only benefits fish and shellfish; anemones and corals are also becoming more common, according to a new study from the University of Gothenburg. Twenty-six years of underwater videos from the depths of the Koster Sea also show long-term changes in the ecosystem as the water becomes warmer.
The marine wildlife in Kosterhavet National Park has changed rapidly in recent years. The introduction of trawling restrictions in the area for the national park during the last 25 years, brought about a change in the living conditions for the animals that live on the seabed.
“Animals that capture nutrients through filtration, such as mussels, anemones and soft corals, do not thrive when bottom trawls stir up sediment from the seabed. Several of these species have recovered significantly,” says Matthias Obst, researcher on marine ecosystems at the University of Gothenburg and research leader in the project.
Loss at shallow depths
At the same time, the study shows that large and heat-sensitive species are declining at shallow depths in the Koster Fjord or are disappearing completely from the area. The most dramatic decline has been in the football sponge Geodia barretti, while the excavated fileclam Acesta excavata also declined steadily. Both animals are important components of the Koster Sea ecosystems as they build habitats for many other organisms.
The study was made possible thanks to a large treasure of underwater videos taken at a rock wall in Koster Sea. The wall has been filmed with an underwater robot during various study visits, teaching sessions and projects at the Tjärnö Marine Laboratory from 1997 onwards.
Machine learning
“The videos were stored on a number of thick hard drives that were kept on a shelf. We are lucky that the underwater photographers at the Tjärnö Marine Laboratory chose to keep this data until now, when we can use machines to go through it,” says Matthias Obst.
Without machine learning, it would have been impossible to analyse such a large number of underwater videos with varying quality and count the abundance of 17 different species over 26 years, 1997–2023. Master's student Christian Nilsson reviewed selected parts of the material and taught an AI object detection model to recognise characteristic features of each species.
Good timeline
In the end, the AI model had become so good that the results could be trusted. It took the model only a few hours to analyse 4.4 million images from the selected videos. The National Academic Infrastructure for Supercomputers in Sweden, NAISS, was used for this purpose.
“We now have a good timeline showing how the 17 species have increased and decreased over the 26 years covered by the data, but also how they have responded to increasingly warmer water temperatures. We see that heat-sensitive species are losing their living environment in shallow waters due to the warm temperatures there,” says Matthias Obst.
Driven by climate change
The study is part of the EU-funded program Digital Twin of the Ocean (DTO), which combines marine research with modern technology development for the sustainable management of our marine ecosystems. It shows that the protective measures implemented in the Kosterhavet National Park have been effective and are helping to bring balance to the ecosystem.
“But there are some organisms that may not be saved by the protective measures in the national park. Rising temperatures in the Koster Sea are driven by climate change, which is difficult to stop. For these species, it may be appropriate to find new areas with deeper water where these species can find refuge,” says Matthias Obst.
END
Unique videos show how trawling restrictions brings back life to the sea
2025-10-03
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Whooping cough can be fatal in young infants, experts warn
2025-10-03
Pertussis, or whooping cough, is on the rise and incidence now exceeds pre-pandemic numbers. While in adults and older children the cough can be bothersome and last for months, pertussis in young infants can be life-threatening. Most children under 2 months of age with pertussis in the United States are hospitalized. In a special article published in Pediatrics, experts strongly encourage vaccination, especially during pregnancy.
“Pertussis symptoms are different in infants,” said leading author Caitlin Li, MD, infectious diseases specialist at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern ...
Knee-d for excellence: New regional training hub keeps surgeons sharp for ageing population
2025-10-03
Singapore, 3 October 2025 – Singapore General Hospital (SGH) has announced the launch of a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for robotic-assisted surgery, ensuring orthopaedic surgeons are equipped with knowledge of emerging technologies as the population ages and surgical needs evolve.
The Centre is established as part of a two-year strategic collaboration, formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with Johnson & Johnson MedTechwith an initial focus on training and research in total knee replacement.
Regional ...
The Lancet: Billions lack access to healthy diets as food systems drive climate and health crises, but sustainable, equitable solutions are within reach, says new EAT-Lancet report
2025-10-02
Building on the landmark 2019 report, the 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission presents the most comprehensive scientific analysis of global food systems to date. It establishes a clear, science-based approach to provide 9.6 billion people with access to healthy diets within planetary boundaries while recognising that healthy and sustainable diets are the foundation of human rights.
The report reveals that the global food system contributes to 30% of greenhouse gas emissions and is the largest driver of planetary boundary transgressions through its impacts on climate, biodiversity, freshwater consumption, and land use change.
Although there ...
Countries with highest reported levels of hearing loss have lowest use of hearing aids
2025-10-02
Countries with the highest reported levels of hearing loss also have the lowest reported use of hearing aids, finds international research published in the open access journal BMJ Global Health.
And men are generally more likely than women to report difficulties with their hearing, although this gender divide narrows with age, the findings show.
An estimated 1.57 billion people—equivalent to 1 in 5 of the world’s population—had hearing loss in 2019. And it’s predicted that it will affect 2.45 billion people by 2050, say the researchers.
Hearing loss is associated with an array of problems ...
Early medical abortion at home up to 12 weeks is safe, effective, and comparable to hospital care
2025-10-02
Early medical abortion at home up to 12 weeks of pregnancy is safe, effective, and comparable to hospital care, finds a 5 year review of cases in Scotland, where this timeframe is legally permitted, and published online in the journal BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health.
It’s time to extend the current legal limit of 10 weeks to 12 weeks to enable women in the rest of the UK and Europe to choose this option, conclude the researchers.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, legislation was introduced throughout Scotland, England, and Wales to allow women to ...
New approach to gravitational wave detection opens the Milli-Hz Frontier
2025-10-02
Scientists have unveiled a new approach to detecting gravitational waves in the milli-Hertz frequency range, providing access to astrophysical and cosmological phenomena that are not detectable with current instruments.
Gravitational waves—ripples in spacetime predicted by Einstein—have been observed at high frequencies by ground-based interferometers such as LIGO and Virgo, and at ultra-low frequencies by pulsar timing arrays. However, the mid-band range has remained a scientific blind spot.
Developed by researchers at the Universities of Birmingham and Sussex, the new detector concept uses cutting-edge optical cavity and atomic clock technologies ...
Rice membrane extracts lithium from brines with greater speed, less waste
2025-10-02
HOUSTON – (Oct. 2, 2025) – A team of researchers at Rice University has developed a new membrane that selectively filters out lithium from brines, offering a faster, cleaner way to produce the element at the heart of nearly every rechargeable battery.
According to a study published in Nature Communications, the new membrane achieved one of the highest selectivities for lithium among similar membranes while using considerably less energy. The membrane design can be adapted to target the recovery of other valuable minerals, such as cobalt and nickel, and plugs ...
Exercise lowers disease risk. This researcher wants to understand how
2025-10-02
Don't love the gym? Neither does exercise scientist Ryan Montalvo. But he goes anyway.
While any workout can seem daunting, the physical stress of exercise often affords long-term benefits. One advantage is that it triggers a physiological response that allows our cells to adjust to meet future energy demand in what’s known as a hormetic response. With an early career research grant from the American College of Sports Medicine Research Endowment, Montalvo will explore how this response to exercise-induced stress might help overcome noncommunicable diseases.
Working ...
Hurricane evacuation patterns differ based on where the storm hits
2025-10-02
A study comparing evacuation patterns in response to two 2024 hurricanes, Milton and Helene, found that people in coastal areas with frequent hurricane exposure were much more likely to travel out of harm’s way compared to people in inland areas who were more likely to stay put. Researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health led the study. Their findings appear in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
These geographic differences are likely due to a combination of factors, including access to transportation infrastructure, social norms, and risk perception, ...
Stem Cell Reports welcomes new members to its Editorial Board
2025-10-02
Expanding the depth and breadth of scientific expertise that defines Stem Cell Reports, the official journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, 13 distinguished researchers have joined the Editorial Board. Their appointment broadens representation across the diverse and international landscape of stem cell science and reinforces the Board’s commitment to championing the journal, raising its global visibility, and ensuring rigorous, high-quality peer review.
“I am delighted to welcome our new editorial board members to Stem Cell Reports, said Janet Rossant, editor-in-chief. “Their breadth of expertise ...