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Dec 26, 2024

Glass eels use an inner compass to navigate the tides

European or glass eels use the planet's magnetic field like a compass and an internal clock to track the tides that take them to the coast. All MNN Content

Wild Atlantic salmon are spawning in Connecticut River for the first time in 200 years

After two centuries away, and decades of work by a seemingly unsuccessful restoration program, wild salmon may finally be reclaiming their lost habitat. All MNN Content

What's the diving like around the UK?

The UK has some fabulous diving in her seas, not least on the hundreds of wrecks. There is also beautiful marine life and at times stunning visibility. Discover the secret dives of Britain. SCUBA News...

Diving Madagascar: is it any good?

Madagascar, the world's fourth largest island, hosts one of the world's longest continuous coral reefs. The country is famous for her unique land animals, but her seas are also full of life not found anywhere else. And she doesn't SCUBA News...

Sawfish Have Virgin Births: First in the Wild

he first known virgin births in the wild have been documented among critically endangered smalltooth sawfish in Florida waters. The discovery, reported in the journal Current Biology, marks the first time that living offspring fro

Giant whales have unique nerves like a bungee cords, researchers say

Rorqual whales have a unique nerve structure in their mouths and tongues that can double in length and recoil like a bungee cord, University of British Columbia, or UBC, researchers said in an article published in Current Biology.

Why Does an Octopus Walk Funny?

Octopuses move with a simple elegance, but they have no rhythm, according to new research. Each of an octopus's eight arms is soft, flexible and muscular, and acts as if it has an infinite number of joints, said the study's lead a

Rare sperm whale caught on tape

The Gulf exploration crew that made headlines in 2014 for spotting ghost sharks, dumbo octopuses, vampire squids from hell, a sunken Nazi war boat and other oddities has made its first big discovery of a new season at sea. This

Arabian Sea Humpback Whale Isolated for 70,000 Years

The Arabian Sea humpback whale may be the most isolated humpback population on the planet, keeping its home in the same place for tens of thousands of years. That's the conclusion reached in a new study of the marine mammal conduc

Coral Triangle could be last bastion for planet's beleaguered reefs

If humans are driving earth’s sixth great extinction event, coral reefs will be one of the first and most visible ecosystems to succumb. Scientists estimate that by 2050, the ocean could be largely devoid of reefs as climate cha Environment news, comment and

Rescued Juvenile Sea Turtle Finds New Home

For the first time, Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, welcomed a rescued and rehabilitated sea turtle to its collection of marine life. The juvenile Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta), weigh

Japan Cuts Antarctic Whale Quota

Japan said on Tuesday it has cut its Antarctic whale-catch quota by two-thirds in a move it hopes will convince international opponents it is conducting genuine scientific research on expeditions in the region. Play Video

French Officials Rush to Defuse Unexploded Dead Whale

A beach in France has a very large problem on its hands: a dead whale that could explode at any minute. The 15-ton whale, which washed ashore in early November at Saintes-Marie-de-la-Mer, near Montpellier, is bloated with gases fo

Oceana finds rich biodiversity on expedition to Canary Islands

Oceana expedition finds loads of life round Canary Islands,down to 1000m and lobbies for a marine park. Using ROVs (remotely operated underwater vehicles) down to 1000 m as well as scuba divers to shallow depths, they documented l SCUBA News...

Around the Pier

Octavio Aburto-Oropeza, marine biologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, has always had a dream of catching science up to the speed of communication. “Nowadays, how fast is communication happening? In

Tiny Sea Monkeys Create Giant Ocean Currents

Every evening, sunset signals the start of dinner for billions of wiggling sea monkeys living in the ocean. As these sea monkeys — which are not actually monkeys but a type of shrimp — swarm to the surface in one large, culmin

Global Warming Changes the Way Sharks Swim

Sharks exposed to ocean water acidified by too much carbon dioxide alter their behavior, swimming in longer spurts than sharks in typical ocean water, particularly during their nighttime wanderings. The new findings, published

770-Pound Colossal Squid a 'Perfect' Specimen

Scientists said Tuesday a female colossal squid weighing an estimated 350 kilograms (770 lbs) and thought to be only the second intact specimen ever found was carrying eggs when discovered in the Antarctic. The squid had been k

Wild Chinese Sturgeon on the Brink of Extinction

The wild Chinese sturgeon is at risk of extinction, state media reported, after none of the rare fish were detected reproducing naturally in the polluted and crowded Yangtze river last year. One of the world's oldest living spe

Shark cull rejected by Western Australia Environmental Protection Authority

Western Australia’s Environmental Protection Authority has recommended that the state’s controversial shark culling program not be extended, citing “a high degree of scientific uncertainty” about the impact of baited druml

Norway whale catch reaches highest number since 1993

hermen in Norway have caught 729 whales this year, the highest number since it resumed the controversial practice in defiance of international pressure, industry sources said on Monday. "The season is more or less finished and

West Coast waters still safe from radioactivity, but testing continues

emember all those headlines after the Fukushima reactor disaster in 2011? “The Coast Is Toast.” “Holy Fukushima – Radiation From Japan Is Already Killing North Americans.” “28 Signs That the West Coast Is Being Absolut

UT Research Uncovers Subglacial Life Beneath Antarctic Ice Sheet

UT research finds life can persist in a cold, dark world. A UT microbiology assistant professor was part of a team that examined waters and sediments from a shallow lake deep beneath the Antarctic ice sheet and found the extreme e

A World of Creatures That Hide in the Open

Sönke Johnsen scuba dives in the middle of the ocean, far from land, miles above the seafloor. There are no shipwrecks to explore, no reefs to admire, just a disorienting oasis of blue. What he looks for is hard to see. Indeed

Lionfish may be 'Terminator' species, study says

disturbing new element may have entered the story of the lionfish's assault on Florida's native fish. These invaders from the Indian and Pacific oceans, thought to have arrived as released aquarium pets, came armed with poisonous

Could Sharks be Heading for Extinction?

Troubles run deep. The lagoon and other coastal nursery habitats for sharks are reeling from pollution, fishing pressure and other threats. Sharks that survive to adulthoodthen face an ocean of troubles, from fishermen seeking an

Dolphins 'squeal with pleasure': study

Dolphins and whales literally squeal with pleasure, say scientists who claim to have shown that the sound expresses emotion. Initially, squeals emitted by the animals when offered tasty fish treats were thought to be signals commu

Submerged Spherical Fish Farm to Raise Tons of Tuna

The demand worldwide for tuna is at an all-time high, which is why populations of this fish are at all-time low. Schools of large predator fish have declined worldwide by two-thirds and the Pacific Bluefin, specifically, is down 9

The life of oceans: a history of marine discovery

It pays to be nice. One of the most absolutely, emphatically wrong hypotheses about the oceans was coined by one of the most carefree and amiable people in nineteenth century science. It should have sunk his reputation without tra

Mexico urged to act and save world's smallest porpoise – the little sea cow

The world's smallest porpoise faces imminent extinction unless the Mexican government eliminates gill-net fishing in its only habitat, the upper Sea of Cortez, scientists have warned. Recent studies conducted using underwater a

World's Oldest European Eel Dies at 155

There was mournful news out of Sweden with the announcement that the world's oldest known European eel had passed away recently at the age of 155, after living through two world wars, the Cold War, disco, punk, grunge, and the adv

USF receives $1.7M grant for marine research in the Antarctic

The University of South Florida's Center for Drug Discovery and Innovation and the department of chemistry received a $1.7 million grant to conduct research in the Antarctic in collaboration with the University of Alabama at Birmi

Mining the Bottom of the Ocean Is as Bad for the Environment as it Sounds

Have you ever wondered how much the ocean floor is worth? The answer is in the trillions. Metals and materials are the foundation of our life, but with seven billion people occupying the earth, supplies are rapidly dwindling. So m

Belize safeguards barrier reef with conservation drones (Science Daily)

Seeking to gain a high-tech edge over illegal fishers, the Government of Belize will use "eyes in the sky" to enforce fishing regulations in the biodiverse Glover's Reef Marine Reserve and other reef systems in what is the first u Ocean Today

Tiniest Catch: UA Scientists' Fishing Expedition Reveals Viral Diversity in the Sea

A fishing expedition of microscopic proportions led by University of Arizona ecologists revealed that the lines between virus types in nature are less blurred than previously thought. Using lab-cultured bacteria as "bait," a t

Scalloped Hammerheads Become First Shark Species on the U.S. Endangered Species List

Scalloped hammerhead sharks have became the first species of shark to be protected by the U.S. Endangered Species Act, one of the world’s strongest wildlife conservation laws. The final rule to list four of the existing six dist

Largest ever private award to UH funds microbial oceanography research

The Simons Foundation has awarded Drs. Edward DeLong and David Karl, both UH Mānoa professors in the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), $40 million to lead the Simons Collaboration on Ocean Processes an

UH students return from final Schmidt Ocean Institute expedition

University of Hawaiʻi marine science students will return from the last of three student research expeditions aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s R/V Falkor on Thursday, June 19. The group sailed to Station ALOHA, a long-term

Rare albino whale 'parades' off Australian coast

In a scene straight out of Moby Dick, a rare white whale is back and putting on a show for his fans off the eastern coast of Australia this week. First spotted on Tuesday, the albino humpback has been nicknamed "Migaloo" by re

The Red Sea: An ocean like all others, after all

The Red Sea has turned out to be an ideal study object for marine geologists. There they can observe the formation of an ocean in its early phase. However, the Red Sea seemed to go through a different birthing process than the oth ScienceDaily: Latest Science N

Eighty sea turtles wash up dead on the coast of Guatemala

An assortment of marine animals and birds reside along the black volcanic sand beaches of Guatemala's Pacific coast, but lately both residents and visitors on the southeast beaches of the country have observed a tragic event – t Environment news, comment and

Puget Sound’s Killer Whales Continue to Remain Under the Endangered Species Act Protection

NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Services declined to strip the Endangered Species Act protection from the Puget Sound Orcas. This was announced in response to a petition filed by the Sacramento-based Pacific Legal Foundation, a p

Sea otter return boosts ailing seagrass in California

The return of sea otters to an estuary on the central Californian coast has significantly improved the health of seagrass, new research has found. Seagrass was deemed to be heading for extinction in this region before the otter

Big break in dolphin die-off mystery: Measles-like virus found

Genetic tests have confirmed the presence of a measles-like virus known as morbillivirus in some of the victims of a massive dolphin die-off on the Atlantic Coast. This is a second big strike for the virus, which was the chief

Mercury Content in Fish Will Rise, Study Reports

Even though several studies have found that eating a good amount of fish could lead to better health, the risk of consuming excess amounts of mercury can be extremely detrimental. Mercury is a toxin created industrially that infec

Dolphins dying by the dozens along East Coast

What's killing the East Coast dolphins? The carcasses of dozens of the marine mammals, seven times more than normal, have been washing up on beaches this summer, and scientists are struggling for answers to the die-off. In

Autonomous ocean gliders improve environmental studies

Though 70 percent of the earth’s surface is covered by oceans, 95 percent of these waters are currently unexplored, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Researchers at Texas A&M are working to discov

Shark Cesarean section: SeaWorld's Discovery Cove

SeaWorld veterinarians have successfully completed the park's first Cesarean section on a shark. Park officials announced Tuesday that the emergency C-section was performed last month on a whitetip reef shark at Discovery Cove,

Sharks flock to Cape Cod, but fishermen fear the seals

On any given day, in the waters off Cape Cod, you can see thousands of seals. Tourists line the shores, and gawk, drawn here by the promise of sighting the whiskered sea mammals. While visiting the Cape with her family, Alexa

Once bitten, twice shy: our exaggerated fear of shark attacks

With beach season in full swing, the question inevitably arises: what are the chances of getting attacked by a shark? In a phrase: extraordinarily low – though not nonexistent. It is higher in certain parts of the US (Florida to

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