Conservation
Analyzing supply and demand of overharvested manta and devil rays
Manta and devil rays, closely related to sharks, are at serious risk of extinction due to overfishing. They are primarily…
Conservation Coral Ecology Fisheries
How badly do coral reefs and sharks need each other?
Overfishing threatens the populations of reef sharks that act as the top of the food chain on coral reefs. Their…
Biology
Why don’t sharks go deep?
Happy Shark Week! Today we examine a persistent and interesting biogeographical puzzle: why are there so few deep sea sharks?
En Espanol
“Semana de los tiburones”: ¿Buena o mala?
Translated by Sandra Schleier, Original Post by Derrick Alcott Artículos: Myrick, JG and Evans, SD. 2014. Do PSAs take a…
Biology
Guest Post: Tiger Beach, Bahamas: A Safe Haven for Female Tiger Sharks
Over the past few decades, the plight of sharks has been overshadowed by greed for shark fin soup and fears…
Conservation Policy
Is ‘Shark Week’ Good or Bad for Sharks?
'Shark Week' has become a staple of summer television. It is currently the longest continuously running series on television. It…
genomics
Unhappy as a clam: contagious cancer is widespread in bivalves
Cancer is not normally thought of as an infectious disease, but researchers have discovered transmissible cancers in mussels and clams…
Biology Climate Change Ecology Ocean Acidification Parasitism
Can being sick be a good thing for surviving ocean acidification?
Scientists (myself included!) have been doing a lot of work on how marine animals respond to rising carbon dioxide (CO2)…
Biochemistry Biology deep sea Evolution Genetics
Light on the Tree of Life: Evolution of Bioluminescence
The darkness can be scary sometimes--but that's when evolution can get pretty crazy in its adaptations. Meet some of the…
Behavior Biology Climate Change Coral Fisheries
Changing with the environment: how resilient are coral reef fish?
Coral reef fish are some of the most sensitive animals to climate change. How will coral reef fish respond to…
Behavior Human impacts Noise
Eavesdropping prawns get more than they bargained for
Marine animals living below the surface have to put up with noise generated by human activity. Heavy shipping traffic can…
Behavior Biology Ecology Plastic
Small fish dine on small plastics and that’s a BIG problem
We’ve heard a lot about plastics in the ocean, but a new study shows the ecological implications of fish eating…
Science Communication
Inside Oceanbites: Why Do Scientists Blog?
On this International Webloggers’ Day, we decided to turn our focus to the scientist-writers who make Oceanbites possible. Since I created…
Behavior Biological oceanography Biology Book Review Climate Change Developmental Biology Genetics
Cool Fact! Octopuses spawn with ease when temperatures are lower
Octopuses in the YP may experience temperature changes that do not bode well for reproduction. At what point will the…
En Espanol
Entintado y Comido: Como los calamares han adaptado un mecanismo de defensa para la captura de presa
Traducido por Sandra Schleier, Artículo Original por Gordon Ober Introducción: Sin ninguna duda los calamares son animales fascinantes y misteriosos. Piénsalo,…
Book Review Coastal Management Conservation
Sea Lions and goose chases – a day at the Marine Mammal Center
I spent a morning learning about the Marine Mammal Center at Moss Landing in California, helped with the intake of…
Biogeochemistry
The Dirty Blizzard: how oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill reached the seafloor
Oil floats on water, yet oil spills are still devastating for marine life living on the seafloor. How does it…
Book Review Coastal Management Conservation Hazards Human impacts Methodology Modeling Plastic Pollution Remote Sensing technology
To I.D. Debris: LIDAR as a tool to identify trash on the beach
Scientists may have a new option for figuring out how much debris litters our beaches and what it all is!…
Book Review Science Communication Survey
July Theme Week Survey
We'd love to know what you want to read about for a whole week during the month of July! Take…
Physical oceanography
Ocean circulation keeping it cool in Antarctica
A group of scientists have delved deeper to solve the puzzle of why the ocean around Antarctica has been cooling,…