Sea sponges are simple marine animals that have been around for about 600 million years. Their skeletons are dense and porous and they adapt well to their particular habitat, attaching themselves to different types of surfaces, from rocks and corals to soft sediments, like mud and sand. They have even been known to fasten themselves […]
According to the Swedish Coast Guard, a huge spill of some kind has been detected off the coast of Sweden, but the substance was unknown. The spill covered an area of 30 square miles in Finnish and Swedish waters in the Baltic Sea, reported The Guardian. “What the spill consists of is still not clear […]
President Biden has announced interest in designating the Hudson Canyon, located from the New York/New Jersey Harbor and stretching 400 nautical miles out to the ocean, as the next national marine sanctuary. The Hudson Canyon is the largest underwater canyon in the U.S. side of the Atlantic Ocean, reaching about 2 miles deep and over […]
The Biden administration announced new steps to protect the nation’s oceans in honor of both National Ocean Month and World Ocean Day. These measures include the creation of a new national marine sanctuary and a long-awaited phaseout of single-use plastics from national parks and public lands. “During National Ocean Month, we celebrate the beauty and […]
A close encounter between a skeleton shrimp and a comb jelly; a stingray and a porcupinefish searching the same sands for a meal; a family that has lived their whole lives on the water. These are some of the unique and fascinating snapshots of our blue planet honored by the UN as part of its […]
Known for their impressive acrobatic abilities and melodic whale songs, humpback whales can grow up to about 55 feet, with pectoral flippers running about a third of their bodies, according to Whale and Dolphin Conservation. These monumental yet graceful whales use their flippers and tails to slap the water, creating dramatic splashes that delight whale […]
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is warning that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is reaching levels not experienced by humans before. Carbon dioxide levels are 50% higher than pre-industrial levels, and the amount of carbon dioxide is higher than it has been in millions of years. On June 3, the Mauna Loa Atmospheric […]
From coral bleaching to ocean acidification, there is lots of discussion about how the climate crisis harms marine life. But is it possible that the loss of undersea animals could actually worsen the impacts of climate change? A study published in Science Advances last year found that the amount of carbon sequestered as fish dung […]
Could plastic pollution make you sick? A new study published in Marine Pollution Bulletin found that it might. A research team from the University of Stirling in Scotland found that harmful bacteria including E. coli had colonized sewage waste like wet wipes that washed up on beaches in the area. “We all know that sewage […]