Latest oceanbites
Severed Spinal Cord? Not a Problem for Sea Lampreys.
What if humans could regenerate our body parts? How can amputees or victims of central nervous system damage, for example, recover their very own limbs or physical movement? Scientists are hard at work, researching mechanisms that may answer these questions — and they’re drawing inspiration from marine life.
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What if humans could regenerate our body parts? How can amputees or victims of central nervous system damage, for example, recover their very own limbs or physical movement? Scientists are hard at work, researching mechanisms that may answer these questions — and they’re drawing inspiration from marine life.
On this Sharkbites Saturday we look at a fish that isn’t a shark at all! Here we explain how skates, the cousins of sharks and rays, use an interesting physiological mechanism to survive the pressure of the deep ocean.
At the beginning of February, oceanographers published the first data from an ocean observing array 12 years in the making. The surprising results mark a turning point in our understanding of global ocean circulation. Oh snap.
Ever wonder how living creatures in the ocean can be seen all the way from space? A recent study by Basedow and co-researchers found that they could detect red colored zooplankton in images collected by satellites.
The velvet belly lanternshark, a deep sea shark species, can create its own light to attract prey and evade predators. How is it able to do this? A recent study uses cutting edge genetics technology to find out the genes involved in this process.
Unlike fields of corn or herds of cattle whose yields are easily counted, wild fish stocks are more difficult to count. The ocean is a huge place, so finding and estimating populations to set future catch limits is really hard! There may be a new way of gathering this information though—one with less impact to […]
Monitoring species populations over is important if scientists want to understand how the species will persist into the future. Read on to see how one research group used long-term monitoring data to develop a future prognosis and conservation plan for the endangered Giant Limpet, an important marine invertebrate in the Mediterranean Sea.
The amount of oxygen in the ocean is expected to decrease every decade due to climate change. In the Oxygen Minimum Zone, the area of the ocean with the least oxygen, what does this mean for the future of zooplankton?
If someone asked you to imagine an iceberg, chances are you’d picture something big and white. However icebergs actually come in a range of colors from white, to blue, and even green. A recent study looks into what gives certain icebergs a unique green coloration. They find that iron oxide minerals are responsible, which could […]
Mud volcanoes don’t spew lava, but they do release lots of gases, like methane, and can form both underwater and on land. They might even form on Mars. Dr. Carmina López-Rodríguez and her colleagues investigated how and when a mud volcano in the Mediterranean formed. Read more to see what they found!
To understand ecosystem level changes, it is important to monitor an ecosystem over a long period of time. However, long-term funding can be limited, especially during times of economic hardships. How do researchers carry out long-term ecological studies in place where sustained funding is unavailable? Read this article to get a glimpse into citizen science, […]
In 2016 researchers discovered that Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) are the oldest living vertebrates on the planet. What does that mean for the conservation and management of these large, cold-water predators? This week we’ll find out.
Hagfish might look like disgusting little slime eels, but there is so much more to these jawless fishes. Read on to learn about hagfish and what scientists are uncovering about their slime!
Climate change is already having effects on sea turtles. All seven species of sea turtle are dependent on temperature for habitat selection and physiology. The impacts of temperature and moisture on hatchling development have real long-term impacts on marine turtle populations.
Tomasetti SJ, Morrell BK, Merlo LR, Gobler CJ (2018) Individual and combined effects of low dissolved oxygen and low pH on survival of early stage larval blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus. PLoS ONE 13(12): e0208629. Blue Crab is the 5th most valuable fishery in the US. Known as Callinectes sapidus throughout its range, the Blue Crab […]
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The goal of oceanbites is to make cutting edge research in the ocean sciences accessible to all. oceanbites will also highlight classic, seminal research papers, and feature op eds about current issues in research.
Science Communication
Communication Woes: Are we speaking the same language?
Scientists know communicating the significance of their findings is a huge part of their job. But what happens when the words we use mean different things to different people? When references and metaphors are only understood by certain generations, or by people from specific geographic regions? What hurdles come after the experiments are done and
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