Notable Ocean Quotable: Our Fate and the Oceans

Each of us can make a difference for our planet's remarkable ocean, which supports all life on earth. America's national treasure, marine biologist and explorer extraordinaire, Sylvia Earle, has been a relentless voice of inspiration, encouraging us all to do what we can where we are to learn about the wonders of our marine planet and to support ocean exploration and conservation

World Ocean Day: Another World

"The sea is as near as we come to another world."~ Anne Stevenson "Cruising for the ladies on his decked out ride, a male Argonaut riding around on a pretty Jellyfish" ~Steven Kovacs, ocean photographer extraordinaire Photo location: Blackwater dive off Anilao, Philippines #ikelite

Pic o’ the Week: Cardigan Bay’s Dolphin Surprise

Pwllheli Harbour, Cardigan Bay, Wales. Photo © Rhys Jones Welsh photographer Rhys Jones has been snapping pictures with his drone around the Welsh shores of Cardigan Bay for two years. Recently his drone caught this view of the Pwllheli harbor and Jones was surprised: "Once seen it it cannot be unseen ... In all my …

Pic o’ the Week: Sea Angels Among Us

Clione limacina, photo ©Alexander Semenov With their winged appearance and translucent bodies, it's easy to see why these pelagic gastropods, Clione limacina, are commonly called sea angels. They're actually related to sea slugs and sea snails, and they live in ocean surface waters down into deep waters. Despite their angelic good looks, they're fierce predators …

Pic o’ the Week: Jellyfish ‘Satellite of Life’ in a Zooplankton Bloom

A juvenile fish and a jellyfish amid a zooplankton bloom, off the Shetland Islands, Atlantic Ocean. Photo © Henley Spiers, courtesy Hakai Magazine A jelly swims amid a zooplankton bloom, its tentacles providing shelter for juvenile fish. As photographer Henley Spiers said, "The bloom also attracted these fish that I observed using a jellyfish as …

Spotlight: Starfish Tracks in the Nitinat Canyon

Image by Christopher Mah, from NOAA's Okeanos research vessel in the Nitinat Canyon, Pacific Ocean Zoom in on the photo and realize that all those tiny holes and dents on the right side of the starfish are actually starfish footprints! Or podia prints, to be biologically precise.While NOAA's ocean exploration vessel Okeanos was recently plying …

Pic o’ the Week: Starry Veliger Larvae

Veliger larvae. Photo © Ryo Minemizu "Behold the mesmerizing beauty of veliger larvae, tiny creatures that seem to have captured the stars and created their own night sky in the depths of the ocean!  These beautiful beings are the larval stage of many marine gastropods, including conchs, sea slugs, and snails.They typically have a translucent …

Pic o’ the Week: Deepest Fish Ever Recorded

This otherworldly juvenile snailfish (genus Pseudoliparis) with a frilly fin and no scales was filmed by researchers a whopping 8,336 meters deep -- that's more than five miles down -- in the Pacific Ocean's Izu-Ogasawara Trench south of Japan.This remarkable sighting by team of researchers with the University of Western Australia's Deep Sea Research Centre …

Marine Blog Recommendations

Mia's Marine Blog

I’m sure many readers would like to learn more about what’s going on in the world of marine science, but it can be hard to know where to start. With a sea (pun intended) of knowledge out there, one might find themself overwhelmed. In this post I will share two wordpress blogs that I would recommend following to keep you updated on all things marine, from fun ocean stories to scientific papers!  

Oceanwire

^{Image from Oceanwire’s Pic o’ the Week: Brittle Stars on Moon Jelly post. Original photograph taken by Andrea Marshall.}

This blog is a great place for beginners to learn about interesting phenomena of the ocean and look at cute pictures of sea creatures! Oceanwire, founded by a former NOAA fellow and Yale graduate, is extremely user-friendly. Its content is split up into a variety of categories including Notable Ocean Quotables, where profound quotes about the…

View original post 364 more words

Spotlight: ‘Tis the Season … for Firefly Squid

Spring in the northern hemisphere brings an ocean marvel of bioluminescence to the shores of Japan ... masses of hotaru-ika, glowing Firefly squid! Toyama Bay, Japan Firefly squid {Watasenia scintillans}, also called Sparkling Enope Squid, are deep sea cephalopods that sometimes come to the ocean's surface to catch prey at night. And in a dazzling …