oceanbites

On a mission to partition: the likelihood of flame retardants to bind to marine organic matter

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are flame retardants found in the environment all over the globe, including the Arctic. Here, scientists…

Biology Book Review Ecology

Successful games of hide and seek are advantageous to Canadian Scientists

A polar bear’s appetite-satisfying success at the game hide-and-seek against ringed seal pups provided Canadian scientists with the opportunity to…

Ecology Fisheries

Tag you’re it! Reef manta rays are being tagged in the Red Sea

Reef manta rays are being tagged in order to better understand their diving profile. Understanding how long the manta rays…

Biogeochemistry

A sticky situation: Old black carbon and sinking particulate organic carbon

The attachment of aged dissolved black carbon to sinking particles may be an important process for transporting organic carbon to…

Biology Ecology Human impacts

One species’ trash is another species’ refuge: Investigating the biodiversity associated with floating plastic debris.

The poster child for human pollution of the ocean has to be floating plastic bottles and soda rings, right? Once…

Biology Ecology Human impacts

The problem with data sets: Cuvier’s beaked whales vs. Navy acoustic testing

Congratulations on the longest and deepest dive EVER! Please, ignore the regular acoustic testing…. The elusive Curvier’s beaked whale (Ziphius…

Biology Climate Change Paleoceanography

Ironing Out the Details of the Last Ice Age

"Give me a half tanker of iron and I will give you an ice age!", as was once said by…

Geology

Oceanography in space! Using a satellite to profile an extraterrestrial lake

In 2013, a satellite orbiting Saturn passed by its largest moon, Titan. The satellite track offered a rare opportunity to…

Fisheries

Hotspots of unwanted catches: the global issue of bycatch

Incidental catches of nontarget species, also called “bycatch” have important ecological, social and economic impacts. A new study reveals the…

Biology Ecology Hazards

Talk about hay fever: toxic algal blooms may cause one doozy of an allergic reaction

Since the late 1990s, human respiratory symptoms have been associated with seasonal blooms of the dinoflagellate Ostropsis cf. ovata along…

Biology Chemistry

Baby Beluga is at Heightened Risk: Pollutant Accumulation in Arctic Predators Affects Gene Expression

Analyzing changes in gene transcription is a way to detect adverse effects in organisms before they are observable on the…

Chemistry technology

DIY Science: Scientists create a LED photometer that can measure the pH of seawater with an accuracy of 0.01, for under $50

Do you own an aquarium with high-maintenance saltwater fish that are happy within a narrow pH range? Maybe you just…

Aquaculture Biology Chemistry Fisheries Hazards Human impacts Pollution

Increasing fiber in your diet… microplastic fibers, that is

Microplastics constitute the large majority of plastic pollution in our global oceans. Microplastic fibers are small fibers that might not…

Biology Climate Change

Hooded seals of the Greenland Sea

Hooded seals have been hunted for centuries in the North Atlantic. Despite increased regulation over the last three decades, a…

Ecology Fisheries

How Coral Size Influences Fish Size

Many fish find a coral colony to host in, living their whole life in that same coral. They must pick…

Atmospheric Chemistry Biology Chemistry Remote Sensing

A break-up in the relationship between organic carbon in sea spray and chlorophyll-a concentrations

The transfer of organic matter from the surface sea water to sea spray aerosols appears constant despite the concentration of…

Biology Ecology Fisheries Invasive Species

You Are What Your Fish Eats: how an invasive seaweed is contributing to the decline in nutritional value of commercial fish

Invasive species are known to be harmful to native species, biodiversity, and ecosystem function. But recent research has shown that…