Hakai Institute
@hakai.org
Scientific research institution on the coastal margin of British Columbia, Canada | Part of the Tula Foundation
Pinned
Hakai Institute
@hakai.org
· Aug 20
Check out new science and technology stories in our second Tula Quarterly of 2025—from documenting the rich biodiversity of marine algae on the coast of Calvert Island, to exploring technology that’s improving maternal and infant health in the remote mountains of Guatemala 🔗 tinyurl.com/2vyha52a
When the ocean heats up, urchin love life cools down. New Hakai-linked study shows that even modest, non-lethal warming can suppress purple sea urchin reproduction — a twist that could temporarily help kelp forests recover. But both kelp and urchins feel the heat.
🔗 tinyurl.com/2s46j5v8
🔗 tinyurl.com/2s46j5v8
November 3, 2025 at 7:09 PM
When the ocean heats up, urchin love life cools down. New Hakai-linked study shows that even modest, non-lethal warming can suppress purple sea urchin reproduction — a twist that could temporarily help kelp forests recover. But both kelp and urchins feel the heat.
🔗 tinyurl.com/2s46j5v8
🔗 tinyurl.com/2s46j5v8
Can some sunflower stars resist disease? Hakai researchers, with DFO, are testing stars from Calvert Island for Vibrio pectenicida resistance and how warmer waters affect infection. A step toward protecting these vital marine predators!
October 27, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Can some sunflower stars resist disease? Hakai researchers, with DFO, are testing stars from Calvert Island for Vibrio pectenicida resistance and how warmer waters affect infection. A step toward protecting these vital marine predators!
What did Vancouver Island’s forests look like after the last ice age?
New research from northern Vancouver Island shows forests didn’t all respond the same way as the climate warmed—each landscape told its own story.
🔗 tinyurl.com/bddr9fuw
New research from northern Vancouver Island shows forests didn’t all respond the same way as the climate warmed—each landscape told its own story.
🔗 tinyurl.com/bddr9fuw
October 17, 2025 at 5:15 PM
What did Vancouver Island’s forests look like after the last ice age?
New research from northern Vancouver Island shows forests didn’t all respond the same way as the climate warmed—each landscape told its own story.
🔗 tinyurl.com/bddr9fuw
New research from northern Vancouver Island shows forests didn’t all respond the same way as the climate warmed—each landscape told its own story.
🔗 tinyurl.com/bddr9fuw
13 years of seaweed work around Calvert Island led to 67 brown algae species – and two new to science! Meet Protohalopteris petersonii & Petrospongium munckiae, named for Hakai founders Eric Peterson & Christina Munck.
🔗 tinyurl.com/2784tas5
🔗 tinyurl.com/2784tas5
October 14, 2025 at 7:15 PM
13 years of seaweed work around Calvert Island led to 67 brown algae species – and two new to science! Meet Protohalopteris petersonii & Petrospongium munckiae, named for Hakai founders Eric Peterson & Christina Munck.
🔗 tinyurl.com/2784tas5
🔗 tinyurl.com/2784tas5
A new study in @natcomms.nature.com involving Hakai Institute researchers finds that marine heatwaves can reshape ocean food webs—slowing the transport of carbon to the deep sea and impacting the ocean’s ability to shield the Earth from climate change.
Full paper 🔗 tinyurl.com/222nk2k8
Full paper 🔗 tinyurl.com/222nk2k8
October 6, 2025 at 5:53 PM
A new study in @natcomms.nature.com involving Hakai Institute researchers finds that marine heatwaves can reshape ocean food webs—slowing the transport of carbon to the deep sea and impacting the ocean’s ability to shield the Earth from climate change.
Full paper 🔗 tinyurl.com/222nk2k8
Full paper 🔗 tinyurl.com/222nk2k8
On Calvert Island, nearly 370 diverse species of seaweed flourish where ocean currents and climate zones converge. Scientists are documenting this kaleidoscope of green, brown, and red algae using pressed specimens and DNA barcoding. Full story 🔗 tinyurl.com/e9yzacrx
October 2, 2025 at 4:58 PM
On Calvert Island, nearly 370 diverse species of seaweed flourish where ocean currents and climate zones converge. Scientists are documenting this kaleidoscope of green, brown, and red algae using pressed specimens and DNA barcoding. Full story 🔗 tinyurl.com/e9yzacrx
Reposted by Hakai Institute
After 12 years of scientific dead ends searching for a cause of #seastar wasting disease, “it’s just shocking that we took that long to find Vibrio pectenicida,” said Dr. Alyssa Gehman. @rhizalyssa.bsky.social @hakai.org
undark.org/2025/09/29/s... via @undark.org
undark.org/2025/09/29/s... via @undark.org
The Long Quest to Uncover a Sea Star Killing Bacteria
Scientists say they’ve found the cause of a marine epidemic more than 10 years after it started. What took so long?
undark.org
October 1, 2025 at 7:39 PM
After 12 years of scientific dead ends searching for a cause of #seastar wasting disease, “it’s just shocking that we took that long to find Vibrio pectenicida,” said Dr. Alyssa Gehman. @rhizalyssa.bsky.social @hakai.org
undark.org/2025/09/29/s... via @undark.org
undark.org/2025/09/29/s... via @undark.org
A workshop on Calvert Island brought together divers from 6 First Nations to expand scientific diving skills and kelp habitat surveys. Supported by the Hakai Institute, @wwfcanada.org, @psfca.bsky.social, ECCC, and DFO, the program is building capacity for stewardship diving on BC's coast.
September 22, 2025 at 5:03 PM
A workshop on Calvert Island brought together divers from 6 First Nations to expand scientific diving skills and kelp habitat surveys. Supported by the Hakai Institute, @wwfcanada.org, @psfca.bsky.social, ECCC, and DFO, the program is building capacity for stewardship diving on BC's coast.
A new multimethod study involving Hakai Institute researchers uses samples from 6400 BCE to 1500 CE to provide the most complete picture of parasite infections in past populations to date—revealing a major shift during the Roman and Medieval periods 🔗 tinyurl.com/9shazh42
September 19, 2025 at 5:32 PM
A new multimethod study involving Hakai Institute researchers uses samples from 6400 BCE to 1500 CE to provide the most complete picture of parasite infections in past populations to date—revealing a major shift during the Roman and Medieval periods 🔗 tinyurl.com/9shazh42
Reposted by Hakai Institute
Strengthening Indigenous stewardship from the seafloor up! Last week, guardians from six coastal B.C. Nations joined a 5-day diving workshop at Calvert Island to build kelp survey + ID skills. Hosted by @hakai.org with support from WWF-Canada, @psfca.bsky.social, DFO & ECCC.
September 19, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Strengthening Indigenous stewardship from the seafloor up! Last week, guardians from six coastal B.C. Nations joined a 5-day diving workshop at Calvert Island to build kelp survey + ID skills. Hosted by @hakai.org with support from WWF-Canada, @psfca.bsky.social, DFO & ECCC.
Reposted by Hakai Institute
Two covers for papers published on the same day www.pnas.org/toc/pnas/122... & www.nature.com/natecolevol/.... Proud of the team, especially #MelaniePrentice & @kevinzhong2006.bsky.social with @ubcbiodiversity.bsky.social, @eoas.ubc.ca, @ubcoceans.bsky.social, @hakai.org and @science.ubc.ca
Table of Contents — August 19, 2025, 122 (33) | PNAS
View the Table of Contents for Volume 122, Issue 33
www.pnas.org
September 18, 2025 at 7:21 AM
Two covers for papers published on the same day www.pnas.org/toc/pnas/122... & www.nature.com/natecolevol/.... Proud of the team, especially #MelaniePrentice & @kevinzhong2006.bsky.social with @ubcbiodiversity.bsky.social, @eoas.ubc.ca, @ubcoceans.bsky.social, @hakai.org and @science.ubc.ca
Archaeological research at the Tsalwadi site on Vancouver Island reveals that people were fishing and making stone tools along the Woss River up to 14,000 years ago—offering one of the earliest records of human activity on the island's coastline. 🔗 tinyurl.com/59rzrn8y
September 16, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Archaeological research at the Tsalwadi site on Vancouver Island reveals that people were fishing and making stone tools along the Woss River up to 14,000 years ago—offering one of the earliest records of human activity on the island's coastline. 🔗 tinyurl.com/59rzrn8y
Fieldwork on BC’s coast is giving more than technical skills to ocean scholars from the Philippines, Egypt, Kenya, and beyond. The @pogo-ocean.bsky.social program immerses the next generation in Canada's coastal ecosystems—sparking fresh passion for ocean science. 🔗 tinyurl.com/47r9zryw
September 11, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Fieldwork on BC’s coast is giving more than technical skills to ocean scholars from the Philippines, Egypt, Kenya, and beyond. The @pogo-ocean.bsky.social program immerses the next generation in Canada's coastal ecosystems—sparking fresh passion for ocean science. 🔗 tinyurl.com/47r9zryw
Reposted by Hakai Institute
Join us at the @imarest.bsky.social webinar on:
"Unlocking Ocean Secrets: Marine Mammal Monitoring Through eDNA"
22 Sept 2025 - 4pm UK time
Matt Lemay, from the OBON project "HI-BON" (led by @hakai.org) will be one of the speakers.
More info and sign up at: www.imarest.org/events/event...
"Unlocking Ocean Secrets: Marine Mammal Monitoring Through eDNA"
22 Sept 2025 - 4pm UK time
Matt Lemay, from the OBON project "HI-BON" (led by @hakai.org) will be one of the speakers.
More info and sign up at: www.imarest.org/events/event...
September 9, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Join us at the @imarest.bsky.social webinar on:
"Unlocking Ocean Secrets: Marine Mammal Monitoring Through eDNA"
22 Sept 2025 - 4pm UK time
Matt Lemay, from the OBON project "HI-BON" (led by @hakai.org) will be one of the speakers.
More info and sign up at: www.imarest.org/events/event...
"Unlocking Ocean Secrets: Marine Mammal Monitoring Through eDNA"
22 Sept 2025 - 4pm UK time
Matt Lemay, from the OBON project "HI-BON" (led by @hakai.org) will be one of the speakers.
More info and sign up at: www.imarest.org/events/event...
Reposted by Hakai Institute
Worrying drop in #ocean #oxygen documented off #BC coast. The study, conducted by the @hakai.org measured oxygen levels in Queen Charlotte Sound to the southern tip of Haida Gwaii. | Globalnews.ca globalnews.ca/news/1139322...
Global News | Breaking, Latest News and Video for Canada
Globalnews.ca – Watch and read Canada’s Breaking news plus Business, Health, Politics and World News
Globalnews.ca
September 10, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Worrying drop in #ocean #oxygen documented off #BC coast. The study, conducted by the @hakai.org measured oxygen levels in Queen Charlotte Sound to the southern tip of Haida Gwaii. | Globalnews.ca globalnews.ca/news/1139322...
Kawok—a digital health solution developed by TulaSalud—is helping to transform maternal and child health in rural Guatemala by combining smartphones, real-time data, and frontline worker outreach. Learn more 🔗 tinyurl.com/3sk75cnd
September 3, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Kawok—a digital health solution developed by TulaSalud—is helping to transform maternal and child health in rural Guatemala by combining smartphones, real-time data, and frontline worker outreach. Learn more 🔗 tinyurl.com/3sk75cnd
A new study involving Hakai Institute researchers finds that oysters shed more DNA when stressed by high CO2 levels—and that these genetic traces break down faster with more ocean acidification, showing the need to adjust how we track biodiversity in a changing ocean 🔗 tinyurl.com/yx55zwty
September 2, 2025 at 7:00 PM
A new study involving Hakai Institute researchers finds that oysters shed more DNA when stressed by high CO2 levels—and that these genetic traces break down faster with more ocean acidification, showing the need to adjust how we track biodiversity in a changing ocean 🔗 tinyurl.com/yx55zwty
"The specter of low-oxygen ‘dead zones’ is surfacing along BCs Central Coast, threatening the region’s rich marine ecosystems and fisheries,” writes @rochelle.bsky.social in @nationalobserver.com, exploring new research by a group of scientists including Hakai oceanographers🔗 tinyurl.com/3bebmnre
Threat of oxygen-poor 'dead zones' surfacing on BC central coast
Half of the seafloor in BC's Queen Charlotte Sound could be oxygen deprived by mid-century due to climate change, with potentially nasty ripple effects for marine life and fisheries, a new study shows...
tinyurl.com
August 28, 2025 at 9:47 PM
"The specter of low-oxygen ‘dead zones’ is surfacing along BCs Central Coast, threatening the region’s rich marine ecosystems and fisheries,” writes @rochelle.bsky.social in @nationalobserver.com, exploring new research by a group of scientists including Hakai oceanographers🔗 tinyurl.com/3bebmnre
A new collaborative study involving Hakai Institute researchers finds that ocean acidification and food stress are affecting the survival of juvenile chum salmon—but new tools can help detect exposure to acidification in wild salmon populations 🔗 tinyurl.com/32psmuvv
August 26, 2025 at 7:36 PM
A new collaborative study involving Hakai Institute researchers finds that ocean acidification and food stress are affecting the survival of juvenile chum salmon—but new tools can help detect exposure to acidification in wild salmon populations 🔗 tinyurl.com/32psmuvv
A new paper uses eDNA tools to confirm Chipewyan Prairie First Nations observations of geological changes in Cowper Lake, Alberta following a historical landslide in the 1940s 🔗 tinyurl.com/hcek4jfc
August 21, 2025 at 5:02 PM
A new paper uses eDNA tools to confirm Chipewyan Prairie First Nations observations of geological changes in Cowper Lake, Alberta following a historical landslide in the 1940s 🔗 tinyurl.com/hcek4jfc
Reposted by Hakai Institute
ONC’s subsea cameras spotted the critically endangered sunflower #SeaStar at Hartley Bay & Campbell River in 2024/25 🎥
New research in @nature.com identified a bacterial strain as the culprit behind the disease that decimated the species for over a decade.
go.nature.com/3JmLaTF
@hakai.org
New research in @nature.com identified a bacterial strain as the culprit behind the disease that decimated the species for over a decade.
go.nature.com/3JmLaTF
@hakai.org
August 18, 2025 at 9:37 PM
ONC’s subsea cameras spotted the critically endangered sunflower #SeaStar at Hartley Bay & Campbell River in 2024/25 🎥
New research in @nature.com identified a bacterial strain as the culprit behind the disease that decimated the species for over a decade.
go.nature.com/3JmLaTF
@hakai.org
New research in @nature.com identified a bacterial strain as the culprit behind the disease that decimated the species for over a decade.
go.nature.com/3JmLaTF
@hakai.org
Check out new science and technology stories in our second Tula Quarterly of 2025—from documenting the rich biodiversity of marine algae on the coast of Calvert Island, to exploring technology that’s improving maternal and infant health in the remote mountains of Guatemala 🔗 tinyurl.com/2vyha52a
August 20, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Check out new science and technology stories in our second Tula Quarterly of 2025—from documenting the rich biodiversity of marine algae on the coast of Calvert Island, to exploring technology that’s improving maternal and infant health in the remote mountains of Guatemala 🔗 tinyurl.com/2vyha52a
A new paper shows worrying declines in oxygen levels in BC’s Queen Charlotte Sound. Researchers project that its deep waters will be largely hypoxic by 2050, with serious consequences for marine life and fisheries 🔗 tinyurl.com/uca57fc2
August 13, 2025 at 10:32 PM
A new paper shows worrying declines in oxygen levels in BC’s Queen Charlotte Sound. Researchers project that its deep waters will be largely hypoxic by 2050, with serious consequences for marine life and fisheries 🔗 tinyurl.com/uca57fc2
The breakthrough study revealing Vibrio pectenicida as the strain of bacterium responsible for sea star wasting disease has generated massive international media coverage, including stories by the CBC, @nytimes.com, @washingtonpost.com, @apnews.com, @theguardian.com, and more!
August 12, 2025 at 7:21 PM
The breakthrough study revealing Vibrio pectenicida as the strain of bacterium responsible for sea star wasting disease has generated massive international media coverage, including stories by the CBC, @nytimes.com, @washingtonpost.com, @apnews.com, @theguardian.com, and more!
Reposted by Hakai Institute
This was a fascinating story to write, about an exciting advance in discovering the culprit behind sea start wasting disease, as well as an intriguing look at how the scientific progress moved forward even during the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. @hakai.org www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
Scientists identify culprit killing sea stars in the Pacific Ocean
Sick sea stars are lethargic, lose their arms and disintegrate into gooey masses. More than 90% of sunflower sea stars were killed.
www.usatoday.com
August 6, 2025 at 2:41 PM
This was a fascinating story to write, about an exciting advance in discovering the culprit behind sea start wasting disease, as well as an intriguing look at how the scientific progress moved forward even during the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. @hakai.org www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...