Megan Munkacsky

May 26, 2024 | blog.nature.org | Justine E Hausheer |Matthew Miller |Ken Keffer |Megan Munkacsky

On a warm, humid December night, a female leatherback hauls herself from the waves. She labors up the beach, one heave at a time, to lay her eggs within the dark, volcanic sands of the Solomon Islands. After just a few hours on shore, she’ll slip back beneath the ocean’s surface and begin a journey that will last thousands of kilometers. Now, Nature Conservancy scientists and community rangers have discovered where this turtle, and others like her, migrate after they leave their nesting beaches.

Apr 22, 2024 | blog.nature.org | Justine E Hausheer |Matthew Miller |Kris Millgate |Megan Munkacsky

New research, published in Frontiers in Marine Science, shows that most sandfish larvae do not travel far from where they were born in coastal Papua New Guinea. The results have implications for fisheries management, indicating that locally managed marine areas are an appropriate way to protect sea cucumber stocks for communities. Nature Conservancy (TNC) scientists and their partners used genetic parentage analyses and statistical modeling to understand sea cucumber dispersal.