climate change | Challenging Habitat

At the beginning of this year, Pelican of London cruises the Western Mediterranean Sea. I take this as a prompt to share some insights into the marine (eco)system of this region and its state of conservation.

For millennia the Mediterranean has been shaped by the rise and fall of civilisations and associated development in agriculture, art, philosophy, science and technology, by numerous wars and long-distance trade, by religious diversity and cultural fusion, and latterly by commercial rivalry and geopolitical competition, tourism and migration ¹.

The Western Mediterranean Sea and its creatures know no national boundaries, cultural differences or politics, while their health is utterly dependent on international agreements and their implementation, maritime policies and traffic, as well as national environmental regulations, fishing practices and pollution from a wide variety of sources.

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Posted on March 3, 2026 by Dr Charlotte Braungardt

biodiversity, climate change, conservation, empowerment, Environment, nature, ocean, pollution, sail training, sailing, Science

ACCOBAMS, Africa, Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Alboran Sea, AMOC, aquaculture, Atlantic Meridian Overturning Circulation, bathimetry, BBaba Dioum, biodiversity, bottlenose dolphin, bottom trawling, Camarinal Sill, Cetaceans, current, density, dynamite fishing, European Ocean Pact, European Oceans Pact, Fin whale, Gaia First, Gibraltar, habitat loss, IMMA, impact, IUCN, IUCN Red List, KBA, Level of Onset of Biological Effects, LOBE, Mare Nostrum, marine food web, marine traffic, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic Area, Morocco, Natura 2000, noise, Ocean Advocacy, ocean education, ocean literacy, Ocean Stewardship, overfishing, primary productivity, Ramsar, rays, salinity, sharks, shipping, skates, SPA, Spain, Strait of Gibraltar, STROG, underwater noise, urban development

Mauricio is one of those multi-talented young people who just excel at whatever they do – whether that’s coaching children on Capoeira skills, analytical chemistry, working as corporate receptionist or marine biology! He has volunteered as Scientist in Residence on the sail training tall ship Pelican of London and has become one of her ambassadors.

Here, Mauricio writes a guest blog for Challenging Habitat that showcases two separate worlds of science communication: with fellow scientists and with the public. The latter is becoming increasingly important as much of what scientists do is funded by the public purse – i.e. you and me – and taxpayers have a right to know how their money is spent.

So, whoever you are, I invite you to dive into Mau’s world of marine biology – case study Australia’s Super Corals!

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Posted on February 16, 2026 by Dr Charlotte Braungardt

biodiversity, climate change, conservation, education, Environment, learning, nature, ocean, pollution, resilience, sail training, Science

Acropora, Australia, Barrier Reef, branching corals, calcification, climate change, endosymbiont clades, massive corals, Mauricio Ferreira, mitochondrial DNA, ocean warming, Pelican of London, Porites, resilience, super corals, thermal stress, University of Southampton

The fact that terrestrial vertebrates, including me, descended from an early marine fish some 375 million years ago is too far fetched for me to say I am ocean.

Nevertheless, for me this statement holds some scientific and some emotional truths.

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Posted on January 21, 2026 by Dr Charlotte Braungardt

climate change, conservation, education, Environment, nature, ocean, planet, resilience, sailing, Science, shanty

advocate, algae, atmosphere, biogeochemical cycles, British Trust of Ornithology, BTO, Citizen Science, climate change, CO2, ecosystem services, emotional connection, global ocean conveyor belt, Happywhale, hydrological cycle, Marine Identity, NASA GLOBE Observer, National Oceanography Centre, nature exploration, NOC, Ocean Rising, Orca, Pelican of London, Plymouth Sound National Marine Park, sailing, Seawatch Foundation, Shark Trust UK, thermohaline circulation, University of Plymouth

Deep sea discoveries never fail to amaze me, and this one of a coral that lives on metal deposits is extra special.

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Posted on December 1, 2025 by Dr Charlotte Braungardt

biodiversity, climate change, conservation, Environment, nature, ocean, planet, pollution, Science, Sustainability

carbon dioxide, climate change, consumer choice, consumerism, coral, deep ocean, deep-sea, deep-sea ecosystem, deep-sea mining, gadgets, hard coral, manganese, National Oceanography Centre, NOC, nodules, ocean acidification, Ocean News, polymetallic, stuff

I’ve written about Antarctic krill before, just around World Krill Day in 2022, and three years on, the international community is not much closer to protecting krill for krill’s sake, for ecosystem’s sake, for climate regulation‘s and all of our sake…

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Posted on November 20, 2025 by Dr Charlotte Braungardt

Antarctica, climate change, conservation, Environment, nature, ocean, planet, pollution, Science, Sustainability

Antarctic Treaty, climate change, ecology, ecosystem, food web, greenwashing, industrial fishing, krill, Ocean Science, Whales

To me, life is about curiosity and learning and growing. I love talking and working with people who have different backgrounds and expertises, because there is always the potential for a surprise, a fact, a story, a new understanding …

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Posted on November 8, 2025 by Dr Charlotte Braungardt

biodiversity, climate change, conservation, education, engineering, Environment, learning, nature, ocean, sail training, Science

climate change, ecology, ecosystem regulation, Environment, gardening, limpet, mollusk, Ocean Science, Pelican of London, rock pool, rocky shore, sail training

Let’s spell it out: cleaning communal toilets, sharing a dormitory with strangers, travel sickness, washing up for 46 people and standing in the wind and rain for hours on end are not common entries on people’s lists of favourite activities.

Yet 27 young people chose to do just that for a chance to live on ‘planet Pelican‘ for a while and experience all the good stuff that comes with it…

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Posted on October 29, 2025 by Dr Charlotte Braungardt

climate change, education, empowerment, engineering, Environment, learning, ocean, personal development, planet, resilience, sail training, sailing, Science, technology

challenge, climate change, expedition, Leadership for change, Marine Citizenship, Marine Identity, ocean, ocean literacty, Ocean Science, Pelican of London, pollution, resilience, tipping point

Two years ago, I read an article in Nature News called “Catastrophic change looms as Earth nears climate ‘tipping points’‘ [1], referring to the Global Tipping Points Report 2023, the article warned about Arctic and Antarctic ice, coral reefs and other Earth system poised to cross thresholds in their decline that are irreversible and that threaten the stability of the Earth system as we know it.

Now ‘Team Earth’ have crossed the first of around 20 climate change tipping points [2]: the international group of scientists working on the Global Tipping Points Report 2025 [3] suggest that this year’s extent of coral bleaching and death mark Earth’s first climate tipping point being reached.

The foreword to the report by André Aranha Correa do Lago, President Designate of COP30, talks of urgency and possibility [3].

So, what’s next?

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Posted on October 27, 2025 by Dr Charlotte Braungardt

climate change, education, empowerment, Environment, learning, nature

Amazon, AMOC, Antarctic, Antarctica, climate action, climate change, coral, coral bleaching, coral die-off, Environment, glaciers, greenhouse gas, Ice sheets, IPCC, ocean, ocean currents, pollution, rain forest, tipping point

When, in May 2025, the UK Met Office reported that “Northwest European waters are currently experiencing an extreme marine heatwave“, the yachting community in Plymouth had been talking about worsening fouling on their boats for weeks.

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Posted on July 17, 2025 by Dr Charlotte Braungardt

biodiversity, climate change, engineering, Environment, nature, ocean, pollution, Science, Sustainability, technology

antifouling, biocides, biofouling, Cathelco, climate change, copper, electrolytic, impact, marine engineering, marine fouling, marine growth, marine heat wave, marine industries, MGPS, Pelican of London, toxicity, tributyltin, ultrasound

I’d like to mark World Ocean Week with a good story, but where to start? There are so many!

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Posted on June 4, 2025 by Dr Charlotte Braungardt

biodiversity, climate change, education, empowerment, Environment, learning, nature, ocean, planet, resilience, Science, Sustainability

biodiversity, Blue marine Foundation, bottom trawling, Citizen Science, climate change, coral, coral bleaching, David Attenborough, ecosystem services, Environment, Environment Agency, European Union, heat tolerance, Marine Protected Area, National Geographic, Natural England, nature, ocean, ocean conservation, Ocean Pact, Ocean Science, pollution, single use plastics, Solent Seascape Project, Sperm Whale, Sustainability, University of Portsmouth, Voice for the Blue, volunteering

When I discovered that a one-inch-square piece of kelp frond is a microcosm of creatures, (once more) the enormity of the ocean and what we don’t yet know about it, dawned on me.

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Posted on May 17, 2025 by Dr Charlotte Braungardt

biodiversity, climate change, Environment, nature, ocean, resilience, sailing, Science

biodiversity, blue carbon, bryozoan, conservation, coral reef, ecosystem services, kelp, kelp forest, mite, nudibranch, Ocean Science, Pelican of London, sail training

The young people who have joined us for one of our Ocean Science or STEAMS voyages on the sail training ship Pelican of London know already that the tiny algae that form the base of the entire ocean food web have several superpowers: they change the chemistry of seawater and regulate our planet’s climate.

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Posted on October 18, 2024 by Dr Charlotte Braungardt

climate change, education, Environment, nature, ocean, planet, pollution, Science

carbon storage, climate change, climate regulation, ecosystem services, Environment, Ocean Science, Pelican of London, phytoplankton, sail training, Seas Your Future, STEAM education

Marine Eco(system)in the Strait of Gibraltar

Guest Blog: Mauricio Ferreira

“I am Ocean”

Over 4000 m Down

Antarctic Krill

Limpet Gardens

Embracing the Challenge

Tipping Points

Pesky Critters in Hot Waters

World Ocean Week 2025

Funky Creatures

Marine Life and Climate Regulation

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