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 …

Our Remarkable Ocean Planet

On World Ocean Day we celebrate our truly remarkable ocean planet 🌊 "Consider the ocean as Earth’s life support system. It holds 97% of Earth’s water & is home for most of life on Earth. The living ocean generates most of the oxygen in the atmosphere, shapes climate, weather & planetary chemistry. In short, the …

Pic o’ the Week: SpongeBob SquarePants & Patrick Star Sighting?!

Ocean scientists and enthusiasts alike have been spending pandemic days this month tuned in to NOAA's live dives as its research vessel Okeanos explores seamounts in the Atlantic Ocean ... ... patiently tracking the ROV as it plies the watery depths ... When suddenly!! What to scientist Christopher Mah's wondering eyes should appear but ... …

Spotlight: Deep-Sea Coral Close-up From NOAA Ocean Exploration

NOAA's vessel Okeanos and its crew of scientists, researchers and mariners have been exploring seamounts in the Atlantic Ocean this month as part of the 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones: New England and Corner Rise Seamounts expedition. Thanks to fantastic livestreaming technology, we can watch what they're seeing in real-time as their ROV plies the …

Pandemic Escape: Glow-In-The-Dark Corals Light Up The Deep Sea

Way, way down in the oceans' darkest depths, lights glow and sparkle. For millennia, bioluminescence has been seen in oceans around the world. Indeed, around 50 A.D., Pliny the Elder wrote that one could rub the slime of a certain luminous jellyfish, possibly Pelagia noctiluca, onto a walking stick to make it double as a torch. …

Spotlight: Miles Down In The Mariana Trench, A New Fish Species Is Discovered

There's exciting news coming out of the Mariana Trench's mind-boggling depths. Deep sea explorers discovered a snailfish species living more than five miles -- FIVE MILES! - deep in the Mariana Trench. It has been named the Pseudoliparis swirei, and according to this National Geographic article, "...scientists suspect they are unlikely to ever find a fish …

Spotlight: Exploring the Ocean – “there’s still 97 percent”

"Only the ocean remains as the last great unexplored portion of our globe; so it is to the sea that man must turn to meet the last great challenge of exploration this side of outer space.” --Deep Challenge (1966) by H. B. Stewart Marine biologist David Gallo brings the mind-bending world of ocean exploration alive …

Spotlight: Creature of the deep: The see-through barreleye

Another fascinating creature of the deep ocean. This one, the barreleye (Macropinna microstoma), also called the "spookfish" for obvious reasons, provides plenty of mystery for scientists to unravel. http://youtu.be/RM9o4VnfHJU When researchers at MBARI sent ROVs to deep waters off the coast of California a couple years ago, they believe they solved the half-century question of …

Holiday Zen: the sea’s glittering lights

A favorite sea phenomenon - bioluminescence, or the living lights of the ocean. Kick back and enjoy a moment of deep sea wonder in this holiday season: http://youtu.be/XD7thJVRKmQ It never gets old for many, including Dr. Edith Widder, who studies bioluminescence in sea creatures: "During my first open ocean dive, I went down to 800 feet and …

Spotlight: Deepest-ever descent, Mariana Trench

Wired is featuring a terrific resurrection of this exciting ocean exploration story - "Fifty-one years ago this Sunday, Swiss engineer Jacques Piccard and Navy oceanographer Don Walsh descended to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, seven miles below the sea’s surface. It’s the lowest point on Earth, and deeper than any human had gone before …