Feature Channels: Marine Science

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A delicacy in Japanese cuisine, puffer fish (fugu) also contain a lethal toxin.

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In the summer of 2020, Florida Museum researchers Tobias Grun and Michał Kowalewski dove into the shallow waters off the coast of the Florida Keys and scoured the ocean floor for sea urchins.

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Life on land may have quieted down during the height of the pandemic, but far offshore the Atlantic Ocean was just as active as ever according to a new study from the University of New Hampshire. Researchers found that there was no significant change in the continental shelf’s underwater soundscape during the year 2020— a surprising contrast to earlier reports of quieter coastal waters during that same timeframe.

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Just as you might look down at the sidewalk as you walk, fish look downward when they swim, a new study by a Northwestern University-led international collaboration has confirmed.

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When scientists discovered a hydrothermal vent site in the Arctic Ocean’s Aurora hydrothermal system in 2014, they did not immediately realize just how exciting their discovery was.

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In a new study from the University of South Australia, researchers found that 60 per cent of surfers are not afraid of sharks when surfing, despite more than half of them spotting a shark when out in the water.

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The deep sea contains more than 90% of the water in our oceans, but only about a third of all fish species. Scientists have long thought the explanation for this was intuitive — shallow ocean waters are warm and full of resources, making them a prime location for new species to evolve and thrive. But a new University of Washington-led study reports that throughout Earth’s ancient history, there were several periods of time when many fish actually favored the cold, dark, barren waters of the deep sea.

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RUDN University biologist with colleagues from Iran, Canada, Thailand and Turkey found that the red algae Halopithys incurva increase the immunity of fish. This means that such algae can be used as a food additive in fish farming. This will reduce the need for overuse of antibiotics.

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Preliminary research data suggest warmer temperatures and increased salt levels might have negative effects on the behavior and physiology of school sharks.

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New research into oil spills’ effects finds surviving the initial event does not guarantee success for the popular sport fish mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus). Exposed fish faced temporary increased predation and did not spawn for the entire observation time.

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Comparative physiologists studied how two aspects of climate change—warming temperatures and increasingly acidic waters—may affect the ecologically important Pacific blue mussel (Mytilus trossulus), a foundational species in the intertidal environments of the northern Pacific Ocean.

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Higher temperatures spurred by worsening climate change increased the growth rate of fish and consumption of their yolk sac—a structure that provides an embryo with food and helps develop important structures, such as blood cells.

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The Veterinary Medical Aquatic Animal Research Center of Excellence (VMARCE), Chulalongkorn University has created Innovareef—lifelike cement-based structures, convenient for planula settlement and growth, accelerating recovery of the coral reef ecosystem, promoting eco-tourism as well as functioning as smart stations for marine environmental monitoring.

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A new paper in Genome Biology and Evolution, published by Oxford University Press, indicates that a type of octopus appears to have evolved independently to develop something resembling a shell, despite having lost the genetic code that produced actual shells in its ancestors and relatives.

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Narwhals are changing their migration patterns in response to pressure from changing Arctic climates, a new UBC report has found.

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Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced that emperor penguins have been listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) based on evidence that the animal's sea ice habitat is shrinking and is likely to continue to do so over the next several decades. This listing comes more than one year after a USFWS proposal to list the species, and confirms that the animal is at risk of becoming an endangered species--in danger of extinction--in the foreseeable future if its habitat continues to be destroyed or adversely changed.

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Knowing whether or not marine microbes engage in photosynthesis — the use of sunlight to turn carbon dioxide and water into energy — could help scientists to learn if ocean bacteria play a role in the global carbon cycle.

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A lecturer and his research team from Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University, have developed “FLAVO INNOVAC” nanovaccine for the prevention of bacterial gills diseases in freshwater fish species such as Tilapia and freshwater Asian sea bass. This nanovaccine is an effective solution that reduces the risk of death from diseases and the limitations of vaccine injections.

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Marine science is vital to the health and vitality of the regional seas around Singapore, which supports the nation’s survival and success.

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The latest articles that have been added to the Environmental Health channel.

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A study published in the journal Science shows for the first time that carefully placed no-fishing zones can help to restore tunas and other large, iconic fish species.

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Today, Propeller , a climate-tech fund that invests in and builds ocean-climate companies, announced its inaugural $100 million fund to support founders looking to address the climate crisis by advancing planet-saving, ocean-based science and technology solutions.

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Climate change is causing the Arctic Ocean’s sea ice to melt away.

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Struggling salmon populations could get some help from the sky. A Washington State University study showed that drone photography of the Wenatchee River during spawning season can be effective in estimating the number of rocky hollows salmon create to lay their eggs, also called “redds.”

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The Baltic Sea is considered one of the world's most polluted seas. Now, new research from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, reveals a relatively unknown environmental culprit.

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The types of ocean bacteria known to absorb carbon dioxide from the air require more energy – in the form of carbon – and other resources when they’re simultaneously infected by viruses and face attack from nearby predators, new research has found.

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Jacks and barracuda in Heʻeia fishpond were found to feed on Australian mullet, an invasive species introduced to Oahu waters in the 1950s.

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Researchers have discovered that an 80 year old historic World War II shipwreck is still influencing the microbiology and geochemistry of the ocean floor where it rests.

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A major new project will help benchmark biodiversity change in the Arctic Ocean and guide conservation efforts by identifying unique species and assessing their extinction risk.

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Stumbling upon a new source of underwater caffeine was just an added bonus of a new study examining the impact of chemical compounds that corals release into the seawater.

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Oxygen levels in the Earth’s atmosphere are likely to have “fluctuated wildly” one billion years ago, creating conditions that could have accelerated the development of early animal life, according to new research. 

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Good news in the report about the recovery of coral in Australia's Great Barrier Reef. However, this news is not a reason for dismissing the severe effect that climate change-induced ocean warming is bringing to coral reefs in the GBR and throughout the world, says Prof.

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While most of the world’s oceans are warming due to climate change, a new CU Boulder study explains how the waters around the Galápagos Islands are staying cool and getting colder.

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The University of Portsmouth is working with the Caribbean Islands of Antigua & Barbuda and Trinidad & Tobago as they move towards a more sustainable future.

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In 2018, an international team of scientists used free-falling “landers” to study the Atacama Trench, gathering images and specimens of deep-sea creatures. The team discovered a new snailfish species unique to and to all other known fish species.

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Geoscientists develop new technique that reveals the health of coral reefs from space.

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Deep-water wave groups are known to be unstable and become rogue. Such unstable wave groups propagate independently regardless of interference. Results seem to support the concept of an unperturbed nonlinear water wave group focusing in the presence of counter-propagating waves, suggesting wave states are directional.

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The loss of coral reefs is a serious threat to the health of marine ecosystems around the world.

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Researchers assess the dire consequences of climate change under a business-as-usual scenario.

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University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) coastal resiliency researcher Dr. Abdullahi Salman has been named an Early-Career Research Fellow in the Environmental Protection and Stewardship track by the Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

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Gray whales that migrate along the West Coast of North America continued to decline in number over the last 2 years, according to a new NOAA Fisheries assessment. The population is now down 38 percent from its peak in 2015 and 2016, as researchers probe the underlying reasons.

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The Salton Sea, California’s most polluted inland lake, has lost a third of its water in the last 25 years. New research has determined a decline in Colorado River flow is the reason for that shrinking.