Hábitos alimentarios de la tortuga verde del pacífico este Chelonia mydas agassizii (BOUCORT, 1868) en la bahía de Paracas, Ica, Perú, durante el año 2010

Se estudiaron los hábitos alimentarios de las tortugas verdes del Pacífico Este Chelonia mydas agassizii (Boucort, 1868) durante el año 2010 en La Aguada, bahía de Paracas, centro-sur del Perú (13º51’S; 76º15’O). Se practicó la técnica de lavado esofágico a 22 ejemplares vivos. Las tortugas presentaron hábitos omnívoros y su dieta estuvo dominada por el consumo de materia animal. Se identificaron un total de 11 ítems alimentarios, siendo la anémona Paranthus sp. el ítem principal (Ai = 25.87%); sin embargo otros ítems importantes incluyeron a la medusa Chrysaora plocamia (Ai = 20.18%) y el alga roja Chondracanthus chamissoi (Ai = 11.07%). La dieta fue complementada con el alga verde Ulva papenfussi (Ai = 6.20%). Las tortugas presentaron una estrategia especialista de alimentación a nivel individual sobre los ítems dominantes, mientras que el resto de ítems fueron consumidos ocasionalmente. Se observó una marcada estacionalidad en el consumo de sus presas, alimentándose principalmente de la medusa Chrysaora plocamia durante las estaciones de verano-otoño (Ip = 77.13%) y de la anémona Paranthus sp. durante el invierno-primavera (Ip = 72.23%). Sobre la base de estos resultados, se recomienda que los planes de conservación de las tortugas marinas incluyan un tratamiento especial a las zonas costeras de la bahía de Paracas como área prioritaria de protección, debido a su utilización como una importante zona de alimentación, donde ejemplares juveniles y subadultos de Chelonia mydas agassizii concurren a alimentarse a lo largo del año.Tesi

Mapping global research on ocean literacy : implications for science, policy, and the blue economy

In recent years, ocean literacy has become a global movement that connects the human dimension to the ocean and intends to be an incentive for positive change in people’s behavior. As multiple initiatives on ocean literacy have arisen, a comprehensive understanding of this topic is required to better engage the broader society. In the present study, we applied a combination of bibliometric analysis and science mapping to a dataset of scientific publications on ocean literacy between 2005 and 2019, obtained from Web of Science and Scopus databases. In order to represent the development of the field, analyze the level of collaborations and uncover its thematic areas, we first used bibliometric analyses to describe the field’s main features, including indicators of growth and research collaboration. We then used science mapping techniques to build collaboration networks among countries and institutions, and to identify research communities. Lastly, we performed co-word analysis to reveal the underlying thematic areas and their evolution. Our results reveal a slow-growing number of publications and a promising trend for collaboration among authors, countries and institutions. Education and science were identified as the two major thematic areas on ocean literacy showing that, over time, issues related to these themes have gained more attention among researchers. These findings confirm that ocean literacy is gaining more acknowledgment within the scientific community but still faces considerable limitations to its dissemination in sectors like the blue economy and in regions such as Latin America and Africa. Promoting cross-institutional and cross-disciplinary cooperation among research institutions, marine education networks and the industry is critical to support this purposeful movement and represents an urgent challenge

The Blue Survey: Validation of an instrument to measure ocean literacy among adults

Human activities have put the ocean under unprecedented pressure. Still, levels of public understanding about the ocean remain low. Ocean literacy is a global movement that aims to improve the understanding of the ocean and provide an incentive for positive change in people’s behavior. To date, there is no validated scale targeted to adults to measure ocean literacy that includes measuring people’s knowledge about the ocean, as well as surveying their attitudes and willingness to act. The Blue Survey is an online instrument meant to measure ocean literacy in adult populations developed by a multidisciplinary team of experts. Using factor analysis, we explore the validity and internal consistency of the Blue Survey in a purposive online sample of 251 adults. We found ocean literacy to consist of six sub-dimensions captured by 34 survey items, viz. knowledge of ocean-related topics, personal interest in ocean-related aspects, ocean stewardship, ocean as an economic resource, ocean-friendly behavior, and willingness to act responsibly for the ocean. Our analysis resulted in the development of a new validated instrument to measure the various dimensions of ocean literacy. It may help researchers and practitioners to better understand the factors contributing to shaping an ocean-literate person. Further research should assess the validity of the Blue Survey across different populations, including those closely related to the sea, such as maritime professionals.