Fish observed evolving into three different species

The King demoiselle is not just one species, but three distinct groups that recently split from each other, according to a new study by Joshua Drew, a marine conservation biologist at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) researcher Brian Bowen comments, “For less well-studied groups, there are probably vast quantities of diversity we don’t know and may never know about if we don’t continue looking for them.“

Read more about it at Discovery News. Image courtesy of Gerry Allen; click on it to see the full version.

Hanauma Bay volunteer program profiled

Liz Kumabe Maynard, Regional Environmental Education Specialist, and Morgan Mamizuka, UH Sea Grant Hanauma Bay Education Program Volunteer Coordinator, discussed the volunteer program at Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve on the Hawaii News Now morning show on Tuesday 02 February. The next round of volunteer training sessions starts on Saturday the 6th; anyone interested in becoming a volunteer is invited to contact Morgan at (808) 394-1374 or by email.

Read more about it in the news release (PDF). Image courtesy of UH Sea Grant.

Corn oil used most often for fast-food french fries

In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Geology & Geophysics (G&G) professor A. Hope Jahren and colleagues found that 69% of national fast food restaurant chains serve french fries containing corn oil, compared to only 20% of small-business restaurants. “Corn oil … contains considerably more heart-harmful saturated fat than canola, sunflower, or safflower oils, and less heart-protective alpha-linolenic acid than soybean oil, making it the least healthy choice…”

Read more about it at WebMD, KITV4, and News@UH. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Building in flood-prone areas risky

Commenting on recent flooding on the North Shore of Kaua‘i, coastal geologist and Geology and Geophysics (G&G) department chair Chip Fletcher and UH Sea Grant extension agent Dolan Eversole, discussed of the risks of flooding that coastal residents — or those near bodies of water connected to the ocean — should be cautious of, especially as sea levels rise in the coming years.

Read more about it at The Garden Island. Image courtesy of SOEST CGG; click on it to go to the original image.

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