“a digital address book of what lives in the oceans”

Of the things we at Oceanwire are thankful for, one of the most critical for our future is the quest of some to explore, document and map the oceans' creatures and its nooks and crannies, trenches and vents, reefs and shoals. The Census of Marine Life, a 10-year global effort to inventory as much ocean …

Pic o’ the Week: Bathypelagic Ctenophore

Photo © David Shale, courtesy University of Aberdeen It looks like a molar tooth drenched in gold, or maybe a metallic mylar birthday balloon. But this is a bathypelagic ctenophore, photographed near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the Atlantic Ocean. The 'bathypelagic zone' is the layer of the ocean about 3,000 - 13,000 feet deep, sometimes called "The …

Pic o’ the Week: Transparent Sea Cucumber, Gulf of Mexico

A transparent sea cucumber, photographed 1.7 miles down (2,750 meters) in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Scientists found this transparent sea cucumber, Enypniastes, creeping forward on its many tentacles at less than 1 inch (2 cm) per minute while sweeping detritus-rich sediment into its mouth. From LiveScience; photo by Larry Madin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst.  The …