Just keep swimming.
That was the topic of “Tuna Talk,” a lecture by Bryan Fry, oceanography and coastal sciences professor, Friday morning in the Dalton Woods Auditorium in the Energy, Coast and Environment building.
Fry said he thought people would enjoy his lecture because of its popular topic.
“Everyone loves to eat tuna,” he said.
Fry explained that his speech highlighted a worldwide problem — overfishing.
He said conservation zones have been created internationally and their purpose is to make more tuna, which will diffuse into the rest of the ocean, but problems occur when the tuna don’t move anywhere.
“They’re surprisingly local,” he said after presenting the research findings to the audience.
Fry said most of the research was done by a group of researchers and graduate students.
He said they tagged tuna to monitor their trophic levels and determine their migratory patterns.
“Animals that migrate widely should have the same isotope values in the west and east, but residents can be very different,” he said.
Fry said it’s important to talk to students about these topics because of the important role they play.
“Students are the future,” he said. “If we don’t do anything, things will not turn out well.”
Courtney Saari, oceanography and coastal sciences graduate student, is a member of the committee that picks the speakers for the series.
Saari said School of the Coast and Environment Dean Christopher D’Elia wanted to put on the seminars to offer students a series of high-quality speakers.
She said another objective is to promote interaction and collaboration between the University and outside researchers.
Saari said the school will offer a seminar each week for the rest of the semester, except during spring break.
She said the seminars will cover a range of topics like oceanography, biology and chemistry.
“We try to get scientists from as many disciplines as possible,” she said.
One topic set to be covered is communication — something that hasn’t been discussed before in seminars offered by the School of the Coast and Environment.
Saari said the committee chose a Manship School of Mass Communication faculty member to speak about how scientists can become better communicators.
Mimi Ferrand, kinesiology senior, said she enjoyed Fry’s lecture on tuna because it involved material she’d learned in class.
“He used a lot of stuff we’ve been learning,” she said. “It kind of tied it into the real world.”
Lexi Stephens, biological sciences senior, said she attended the seminar for credit in a class but would probably return because she enjoyed it.
Stephens said she thought Fry was entertaining — something Saari said the committee looks for in a speaker.
“We really look for dynamic speakers,” Saari said.
 
 
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Contact Rachel Warren at [email protected]