Marine giants make migrations across the ocean to give birth where predators are scarce, congregating annually along the same stretches of coastline. A study suggests that 200 million years before whales evolved, school bus-sized marine reptiles called ichthyosaurs may have made similar migrations.
A marine researcher at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science has identified a new bottlenose dolphin subspecies found only in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
Octopuses have captured the attention of scientists and the public with their remarkable intelligence, including the use of tools, engaging in creative play and problem-solving, and even escaping from aquariums.
Curtin University researchers have revealed how the pelvic fins of fish such as sharks and chimaeras have evolved from their sudden appearance in the fossil record over 410 million years ago.
Plants that live on land, such as spinach, grow by using sunlight to perform photosynthesis.
Puffins lose the ability to fly for up to two months every year – twice as long as previously believed.
Emissions from copper-based antifouling paints are a well-known environmental problem.
As world leaders, government negotiators, scientists and conservationists gather at the UN Biodiversity Conference, COP15, to agree to halt and reverse nature loss, an international team of marine scientists and conservationists have made an impassioned plea for the urgent conservation of deep reefs.
In the vast oceans, one would assume their inhabitants can travel far and wide and, as a result, populations of a species would mix freely.
At the 183rd ASA Meeting, Brendan Smith will describe how hydrophones can listen to the sounds of deep-sea hydrothermal vents, informing the environmental impacts of deep-sea mining and assisting with interplanetary exploration. He and his supervisor David Barclay have developed noninvasive ways to study the vents that are sustainable in the long term because they work from a safe distance. Understanding the acoustics in the vicinity could help predict and prevent environmental impacts.
An Iowa State University professor who pioneered the study of how stress hormones can directly stimulate pathogen growth will work with Norwegian researchers over the next three years to see if intensive handling methods are making farmed salmon more susceptible to bacterial diseases.
New research from Cornell University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute shows a continually warming world is leading to extended, late-summer weeks of water stratification in lakes, which prompts oxygen deprivation in the water – provoking conditions called hypoxia (low oxygen) and anoxia (no oxygen) – and negative consequences for fish and other species.
As hurricane Michael churned through the Gulf of Mexico to make landfall near Florida’s Apalachicola River in 2018, it left a sea of destruction in its wake. The path was easy to follow on land, but debris and infrastructure failures also diminished the river’s water quality and led to the death of roughly half the gulf sturgeon population there.
Less than 10 aquaculture farms in the U.S. have been successful in commercially raising and distributing the popular Florida pompano fish. A new study has determined the optimal salinity required to culture fingerlings (juvenile fish) from hatch to weaning under on-farm conditions. Researchers have shown it’s possible to grow this warm water marine species in salinities a low as 10 parts per thousand, which makes it more economic and easier for producers far from the coast to attempt Florida pompano commercial growth.
Human-released greenhouse gasses are causing the world to warm, and with that warming comes increasing stress for many of the planet’s plants and animals.
Salt marshes are a well-known carbon sink and can aid in carbon sequestration efforts. But they are also dynamic ecosystems that change with the seasons and tides.
Inexpensive, small fish species caught in seas and lakes in developing countries could help close nutritional gaps for undernourished people, and especially young children, according to new research.
Global climate change and, in particular, the warming of the oceans has caused the frequency and severity of marine heatwaves to increase every year, with serious consequences for the stability and resilience of coral populations.
Wandering albatrosses are highly adapted to long-distance soaring flight, assisted by a wingspan of up to 11 feet -the largest known of any living bird. They use the winds to soar thousands of miles seeking food to bring back to nourish their chicks. Researchers are unlocking new clues about how these iconic birds are such amazing flyers.
Iron-based fertilizer may stimulate plankton to pull carbon dioxide from the ocean, driving a carbon-negative process.
The UCO publishes a review of the nitrogen metabolism adaptations that allowed the most abundant photosynthetic organism on Earth, marine cyanobacteria, to survive in environments very poor in nutrients.
For the study, Riekenberg and colleagues looked at the chemical variations in the isotopes of nitrogen. There are two predominate forms of nitrogen, 'nitrogen-14' and the heavier version, 'nitrogen-15'.
Differences in sharks’ olfactory systems are of interest not only because of their known incredible sense of smell but also because they have been around since before the dinosaurs. They managed to thrive in every known marine habitat for millions of years – their sense of smell may have been key. A study is the first to quantify olfactory organ morphology by examining rosette shape and other internal structures among a diverse set of shark species using dissections, phylogenetic comparisons, and a fairly new technique, called diffusible iodine‐based contrast‐enhanced computed tomography imaging. Results reveal that the organs did not change in shape or number of lamellae throughout the life stages, suggesting that olfaction is a key sensory modality throughout the life of elasmobranch fishes.
In the lake-rich regions of the world, algae blooms are a growing problem. Not only are the floating green scums a nuisance for anyone hoping to enjoy the water, they can turn toxic and threaten public health.The main driver behind these blooms is phosphorus, an element used widely in agriculture to fertilize crops, that can run from the land and into lakes — especially during heavy rains.
Two different swimming styles of a marine animal related to jellyfish let the animal prioritize speed or energy efficiency, depending on its current needs, a team of University of Oregon researchers found. The UO team, led by marine biologist Kelly Sutherland and postdoctoral researcher Kevin Du Clos, report their findings in a paper published Nov. 28 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
UNLV analysis challenges the idea that ocean ecosystems have barely changed over millions of years, pointing scientists down a new path on conservation efforts and policy.
A new study led by the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC), with colleagues from the British Antarctic Survey, the Institute of Oceanology, the Polish Academy of Sciences and the University of Gdańsk have also participated has revealed that global warming and ocean acidification threaten marine organisms that build their skeletons and shells with calcium carbonate (chalk) such as corals, bryozoans, molluscs, sea urchins or crustaceans.
A new study on the intramuscular nerve cords of octopuses reveals that they are connected in a unique and unexpected geometric structure.
As nations meet in Uruguay to negotiate a new Global Plastics Treaty, marine and forensic scientists publish new results this week that reveal the discovery of synthetic plastic fibres in air, seawater, sediment and sea ice sampled in the Antarctic Weddell Sea.
A global gathering of marine scientists has set a three-day symposium to work out how we can maximise the many life and planet protecting services we as humans benefit from our coastal habitats.
Every year, the cross-shelf transport of carbon-rich particles from the Barents and Kara Seas could bind up to 3.6 million metric tons of CO2 in the Arctic deep sea for millennia.
Gadgets that emit small electrical pulses can drastically cut the number of sharks and stingrays caught accidentally on fishing lines, new research shows.
"If Charles Darwin had had the opportunity to dive off the Cape Verde Islands, he would have been completely thrilled", Eduardo Sampaio is convinced, because Darwin would have seen a fascinating, species-rich landscape.
Rapid changes in marine oxygen levels may have played a significant role in driving Earth’s first mass extinction, according to a new study led by Florida State University researchers.
When polar seas freeze and ice forms, it is not only due to cold air chilling the surface of the water.
Until now, we thought the packed sea ice of the Southern Ocean blocked all light from reaching the sea beneath, preventing phytoplankton — tiny algae which are the base of aquatic food webs — from growing there.
Tropical coral reefs are among the most endangered ecosystems on Earth. In addition to climate change, coral-eating crown-of-thorns seastars (Acanthaster spp.) pose one of the biggest threats in parts of the Indo-Pacific region.
The Indian River Lagoon (IRL) is a bull shark nursery habitat crucial to survival and recruitment of Atlantic coast bull sharks. Analysis of 123 samples found the presence of one or more phycotoxin from harmful algal blooms in 82 percent of the bull sharks and their prey items. Findings highlight the potential threat of toxic algae to the IRL’s ecosystem and surrounding human populations that may consume the same prey species. The highest concentrations of most toxins were detected in gut content samples, highlighting dietary exposure as an important mechanism of toxin transfer to bull sharks in the system.
Ancient seawater pockets offer a new source of clues to climate change in vanished oceans and our own.
Although communities care deeply about the fate of coral reefs, they often lack the scientific tools to document changes in the local reefs on which they rely. A new project will help to empower community members already interested in coral reef health with the tools needed to document changes in these systems. Importantly, findings from the research will inform management of ecosystems.
Scientists from Simon Fraser University are part of an international team of researchers that has developed a new science-based indicator to assess the state of health of the oceans—and the possible risk of extinction of their species.
Corals bred in public aquaria provide novel research opportunities and a healthy stock for outplanting into the wild, essential components of a thriving future for coral reef ecosystems, which support around 25% of all life in Earth’s oceans.
The growth rate of seafood farming worldwide peaked in 1996 according to new UBC research, highlighting the importance of rebuilding wild fish stocks to feed future demand.
An international group of marine scientists has published a letter in Science that is a call to action for policy makers, government agencies and ocean conservation groups to take major steps to preserve Egypt’s coral reefs, which generate billions of dollars annually from tourism and tourism-related commerce.
A delicacy in Japanese cuisine, puffer fish (fugu) also contain a lethal toxin.
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.
Globally, the coastal lagoons of Lagos (Nigeria), Sakumo (Ghana) and Bizerte (Tunisia) —close to large urban centres and without waste and sewage treatment systems— are among the most affected water ecosystems of this nature by microplastic pollution.
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.
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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