Pic o’ the Week: “like a galaxy crashed with the ocean”

“This is the most amazing discovery in my lifetime! It feels like I’ve discovered a rare treasure,” Andreea Baker exclaimed about seeing these seastars in a mussel shell. Baker happened upon this wondrous ocean sight while walking along the Oregon coast near Cannon Beach. We were visiting Indian Beach Oregon on my 37th birthday. We …

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: Gummy Squirrel in the Pacific Ocean

It's a slug, it's an alien ... it's a Gummy Squirrel! Yes -- it's a sea creature!This sea cucumber, aka gummy squirrel {Psychropotes longicauda}, was spotted by the NOAA Okeanos research vessel crew at 5,100 meters (3.2 miles) depth while exploring abyssal sediments in the western Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the central Pacific Ocean. This gummy …

Spotlight: Ocean Exploration Day

"A day to celebrate the wonder of & need for deep-sea research and exploration. To manage, sustainably use, and protect our ocean, we must understand it. Exploration is the first step to unlocking our ocean’s full potential. Onward and downward!" ~NOAA Ocean Exploration Rarely seen Halitrephes Jellyfish, filmed by E/V Nautilus' explorers 4,000 feet down …

Notable Indigenous Quotable – The Ocean is the Ultimate Life Force

"For us the ocean is the lifeblood of our planet, it's the blood that flows in everyone's veins. It is the blood that connects all races and all peoples and all nations, so it is the ultimate life force on the planet Earth for us." ~ Chief Fred Harvey Collins, Northern Chumash Photo: Pacific Grove …

Thankful For This Remarkable Ocean Planet

McWay Falls, California. Photo copyright Paul Jimerson Carrying Our Words We travel carrying our words.We arrive at the ocean.With our words we are able to speakof the sounds of thunderous waves.We speak of how majestic it is,of the ocean power that gifts us songs.We sing of our respectand call it our relative. ~ Ofelia Zepeda, …

Pic o’ the Week, World Ocean Day Edition: Emerald Ocean Dreamscape

An emerald wave crashes into the steel-blue sea, ocean water streams white down craggy coastal rocks, a seagull flies low, light fog blankets it all. This ethereal shot at Point Reyes by Paul Jimerson captures the exquisite beauty of our remarkable ocean. "It’s a favorite of mine, in part because it reminds me of that …

Pic o’ the Week: sky on a whale’s back

As the autumn days become shorter and colder in the Northern Hemisphere, the ocean's creatures prepare for winter. In the deep waters off the Central California coast, enormous schools of anchovies are drawing hundreds of humpback whales, along with blue whales, dolphins, seals, and other predators. Here, blue sky and wispy clouds reflect off a humpback …

Pic o’ the Week: A Whale Watches

A humpback whale eyes photographer Rodger Klein in the South Pacific waters off Tonga. © Rodger Klein Where great whales come sailing by,Sail and sail, with unshut eye,Round the world for ever and aye?--Matthew Arnold The southern hemisphere's humpback whale population is slowly rebounding after being nearly wiped out by 20th century commercial whaling. The …

Pic o’ the Week: Squid School

When Jon Schwartz and his buddy Josh Pruitt went kayaking off La Jolla, Calfornia one day, they happened upon this surprising shoal of squid. It massed around Josh's kayak, and the men were curious - why were the squid apparently fascinated with the kayak? What happened next was one of those rare encounters some lucky …