What Happens to Ocean Science During a War?

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What would you do if your research
species was endangered, your

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coastline was under constant pressure,
and a war broke out around you?

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One marine scientist in Gaza is trying
to answer this question while studying

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one of the Mediterranean Sea's most
mysterious animals, the giant devil ray.

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This is the How to Protect the Ocean
podcast, your weekday ocean news update.

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If you care about staying informed
on the ocean every weekday, Monday to

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Friday, hit that follow button right
now on your favorite podcast app, and

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you won't miss tomorrow's episode Today's
episode is about more than devil rays.

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It's about what happens when
science, conservation, and human

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resilience collide in one of the
most difficult places on Earth.

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Now, before we go into this, this
is a very sensitive subject matter.

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Obviously, the crisis that's
happening in Gaza, we are not

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overlooking this on this podcast.

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It is a tragedy and I have feelings
on this, but I'm not gonna bring my

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political beliefs on this in this area.

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What we're gonna be doing is focusing
on a Mongabay article that has to

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do with someone studying devil
rays in Gaza and obviously being

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endangered of this person's life.

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This is a very serious thing.

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Unfortunately, we also saw a sea
turtle biologist killed in Lebanon this

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past week, which is a huge tragedy.

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She felt that she wanted to
be there to protect them.

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She's from Lebanon, didn't live
there, went back, and unfortunately

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she was hit in a missile strike.

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Absolute tragedy.

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I'm against war in all major facets.

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You care for the people that are
affected by this, and unfortunately,

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losing scientists to war when
they're trying to study their species

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is just so tragic in all cases.

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And so I want to go forward with this
episode because I think it's important

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to tell this person's story, and help
amplify the story that's on Mongabay

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News, which is really well done.

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But I wanted to make sure that we got
this out of the way to just let you know

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of where we stand here at the How to
Protect the Ocean podcast, and well, it

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really is me, because this is something
that I care about very, very deeply

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about these scientists, and we wanna
support scientists who are out there.

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So this is something
that we're gonna go do.

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We're gonna answer a question today.

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It's, can ocean conservation continue
during a humanitarian crisis?

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So the story comes from a recent interview
published by Mongabay featuring marine

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ecologist Mohammed Abu Daya, a scientist
from Gaza who has spent years studying

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giant devil rays and other marine
species in the Eastern Mediterranean.

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So let's start with the animal
at the center of the story.

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Giant devil rays are among
the largest rays in the world.

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If you've ever seen a manta
ray, they look somewhat similar.

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They have broad wing-like fins,
can grow several meters across,

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and spend much of their lives
moving through open ocean waters.

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But unlike manta rays, giant devil
rays remain relatively mysterious.

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Scientists still know surprisingly
little about population sizes,

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migration routes, and breeding behavior.

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That uncertainty is a problem because
the species is already considered

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endangered and recovers very
slowly from population declines.

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Female devil rays produce
very few offspring, making it

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difficult for populations to
bounce back when it numbers fall.

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For years, Mohammed Abu Daya has
been working to understand these

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animals along Gaza's coastline.

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His research became internationally
recognized after helping reveal that

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what many media outlets once described
as a mysterious mass stranding

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of devil rays on Gaza beaches
was actually a targeted fishery.

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Hundreds of rays had been caught
and landed by fishers rather

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than washing ashore naturally.

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That discovery helped scientists
better understand both the

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species and the challenges facing
conservation in the region.

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But then the situation
became far more difficult.

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The ongoing war in Gaza has disrupted
nearly every aspect of daily life,

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including scientific research.

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Fieldwork became dangerous, if not
impossible Equipment and resources

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became difficult to access, and
communication with collaborators

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became even more complicated.

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And yet Abu Daya has continued working
whenever possible to document marine

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life and contribute to conservation
knowledge, even though he was

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probably in danger when doing it.

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That's where the story becomes
much bigger than devil rays.

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When we talk about ocean conservation,
we often focus on protected areas,

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fishing regulations, or climate change.

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But conservation depends on something
even more fundamental: people, right?

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If we manage the people,
we can manage the ocean.

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The ocean can almost manage itself,

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Scientists collect data, communities
share knowledge, managers make decisions.

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Without people doing that
work, conservation slows

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down or stops entirely.

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Now, the story of Mohammed Abu
Daya highlights something we rarely

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discuss in ocean conservation.

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Many of the world's most important
ecosystems are located in regions

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experiencing political instability,
conflict, or economic hardship.

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Yet biodiversity doesn't
pause during a crisis.

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Species continue migrating,
fish continue spawning, threats

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continue to affect wildlife.

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And scientists working in those
places often become the only

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source of information available.

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In Gaza, the marine environment
faces unique pressures.

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Fishing areas are restricted, economic
challenges influence how marine

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resources are used, and conservation
measures can be difficult to implement.

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Yet the coastline still supports
important marine species, including

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the endangered devil rays.

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What's remarkable is that despite
these obstacles, researchers continue

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finding ways to collect data and
engage with fishing communities.

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That collaboration matters.

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Many conservation successes
begin with local knowledge.

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Fishers often know when the species
arrive, where they gather, and how

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populations appear to be changing.

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Scientists can then combine
their observations with research

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to better understand what is
happening beneath the surface.

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In other words, conservation isn't
something done to communities.

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The best conservation is usually done
with communities, and that's a lesson that

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applies whether you're working in Gaza,
Canada, Australia, or anywhere else.

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The future of devil ray
conservation remains uncertain.

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Scientists still need better
information about population trends,

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migration patterns, and habitat
use throughout the Mediterranean.

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The species faces ongoing risk
from fishing pressure, accidental

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capture, and habitat degradation.

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But there's also a reason for optimism.

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Every new piece of information
helps build a cleaner picture

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of how to protect these animals.

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Researchers across the Mediterranean are
increasingly collaborating on the devil

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ray conservation, and citizen science
programs are helping document sightings.

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Conservation groups are raising awareness
about the species, and scientists like

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Mohammed Abu Daya continue contributing
knowledge under circumstances that many

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researchers would find unimaginable.

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His story remind us that conservation
isn't only about species.

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It's also about the people
who dedicate their lives to

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understanding and protecting them.

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When we read scientific papers,
we often see just the data.

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We see the graphs, we see the conclusions.

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What we don't always see are the human
stories behind that work, the long

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days in the field, the uncertainty,
the setbacks, and sometimes, as

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in this case, the extraordinary
determination required simply to

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continue doing the science at all.

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Like, let's be honest, nobody
expects science to go on, especially

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for the marine environment, while
there's a war that breaks out.

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I don't even know what
we expect people to do.

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I've never been in a war zone.

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I could never even imagine
what people go through.

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I can only just be afraid for the people
who are experiencing this, the innocent

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people who have done nothing but just
have to deal with bombs every single day.

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How do you expect someone
to go out and study these?

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The fact that they're doing this
says a lot about who they are as

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a scientist and who they are as a
person, and I have the utmost respect

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for the people who are doing this.

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The ocean story is really a people story.

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Because protecting species like the
giant devil rays depends not only

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on the animals themselves, but on
the people willing to keep studying

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and protecting them even when
the odds are stacked against them.

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Just like to even think about going
out when you may or may not see or

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hear bombs going off and buildings just
coming to rubble and people screaming

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and people scared, people trying to
find food, just trying to survive.

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That's a difficult problem.

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Gaza is not a very big place and
from what I gather from what's been

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happening, there's nowhere to go.

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And so they're facing this and here's
Mohammed who's actually out there

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trying to collect data as much as
he can, whether he's trying to keep

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busy, keep his mind off what's going
on or just continue to do his work

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because he's passionate about it.

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The fact that he's actually
doing it is amazing.

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Like, I just can't even consider thinking
about what this guy is going through.

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And I would love to get his story
and get him on the podcast at some

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point, but I would rather him be
safe, him survive, him and his

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family survive what's going on.

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And hopefully he can one day tell a story
at a conference or on this podcast or

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wherever he can because I think it's one
of bravery, I think it's one of courage.

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I think it's one of trying
to do something good in a bad

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situation, a really bad situation.

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And there are a lot of biologists
out there and conservationists,

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whether they're terrestrial,
freshwater or marine, that have to go

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through dangers on a regular basis.

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They live in countries where there's
political instability, where there's

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drug trafficking, where there's human
trafficking, where there's a lot of

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crime, and they have to go out in remote
areas where they're unprotected and they

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are vulnerable to what's happening in
and around the area that they live in.

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And you just never know
what's gonna happen.

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And we wanna protect the people there.

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and we want to support the
people who are doing that.

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We want them to be safe.

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I don't know if I have the
bravery and courage to do that.

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There's no way.

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I don't think I could do that.

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So I give a lot of respect to Mohammed and
what he's been able to do, and what he's

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been able to gather over these last few
years, and even just throughout his time

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living in Gaza, and the fact that he's
staying there, like, is just phenomenal.

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I hope everything goes well for him.

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I wish him well, and I hope that we get
not only more data, but his safety, and

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his family's safety, and his friends'.

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And then just the end to the
war in general, obviously.

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It's just awful.

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So, that's the episode for today.

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If you enjoyed this episode and you
wanna listen to more, you can follow

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the How to Protect the Ocean podcast.

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If you wanna support the work I do, you
can go to speakupforblue.com/patreon.

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That's speakupforblue.com/patreon.

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Link is in the show notes.

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And of course, if you wanna contact
me, you can do so on my socials.

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I wanna thank you for joining
me on today's episode of the How

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to Protect the Ocean podcast.

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I also wanna thank Mongabay News for
writing this article and the one that

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we covered yesterday on the podcast
'cause they're an amazing organization.

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You should check them out at mongabay.com.

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And I wanna thank you for listening
to this episode, and have a good day.

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We'll talk to you next time,
and happy conservation.