deep sea
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? Brittney G. BorowiecBrittney is a PhD candidate at McMaster University in Hamilton, ON, Canada, and joined Oceanbites in September 2015. Her research focuses on the physiological mechanisms and evolution of the respiratory and metabolic responses […]
12,000 feet under the sea, from space
A pair of scientists have figured out how to track deep ocean currents using gravity measurements from space. Veronica TamsittI’m a PhD student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla California. My research is focused on the Southern Ocean circulation and it’s role in climate. For my research I sometimes spend months at sea […]
Parenthood: The Most Rewarding Experience or The Ultimate Sacrifice?
Our human parents make a lot of sacrifices for us! They devote their time and energy, provide for us, invest in us (monetarily, sure, but also emotionally), nurture us, attempt to teach us, make career decisions with us in mind, and lose a lot of sleep worrying about us. However, in the marine world things […]
Decomposition in the Deep Sea
Whale carcasses that fall to the seafloor provide large amounts of food to deep-sea environments. Though ecologically important, little is known about whale falls and the communities they harbor in the vast Atlantic Ocean – all information comes from the Pacific. What happens to large mammals that sink to the bottom of the Atlantic and […]
Staying ahead of commercial exploitation in the deep sea
The first seafloor massive sulfide mine in the Pacific is expected to begin commercial operation in 2017. Licenses have already been granted and environmental impact assessments conducted, but we know little about the marine communities surrounding sulfide deposits in the ocean. This study characterizes such communities in a future mining exploration site. Virginia SchutteI just […]
Pollutants have fun sliding downhill in submarine canyons!
Many of us believe that the deep ocean is pristine and not affected by any human activities; the fact that pollutants such as perfluoroalkyl substances can reach deep ocean gives us a warning sign. It was estimated that around 60 kg of these chemicals was transported during the sampling periods. Caoxin SunCaoxin is a graduate […]
Epic: sperm whales hunt squid
Bad environmental news can seem overwhelming at times. No matter how environmentally aware you are, you will still need to eat something and you will take up space that probably used to belong more to nature than it does now. So let’s take a moment to appreciate why it’s worth trying to conserve nature. Let’s […]
Deep-sea Lights
Many different animals in the ocean produce light to communicate, especially in the darkness of the deep-sea. But how exactly do these animals produce their own light? Researchers studied the structure of a bioluminescent organ in rattail fishes to see how these fish begin to produce light. Ashley MarranzinoI received my Master’s degree from the […]
Supermom of the depths: octopus guards its eggs for the longest period ever observed
Scientists found an octopus that guards its eggs for the longest period ever recorded. The super mother was filmed for 53 months and has produced the largest and most developed hatchlings known to date. Catarina SilvaHi! I am a PhD candidate at Victoria University of Wellington. I study the genetic structure of organisms and how […]
The Role of Eels in Deep Sea Food Webs
Humans have made amazing strides in exploring and understanding the world, and even the universe, around us; but right off the coast looms a large, mysterious entity: the deep sea. For as much as we know about coastal zones and the continental shelf, we know very little about the organisms, communities, and ecology of the […]
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