Small but mighty, plankton are some of the most powerful creatures on Earth.
For @TheConversationUS, a marine conservationist writes: "Plankton are critical to marine ecosystems and to humans, but often glide under the radar of our interest."
'Atlantic surfclam, an economically valuable species that is the main ingredient in clam chowder and fried clam strips, has returned to Virginia waters in a big way, reversing a die-off that started more than two decades ago....Rutgers scientists found the population to be thriving and growing. A likely reason could be that environmental conditions improved, and another possibility is that the clams adapted...'
Lampreys look like something out of a horror movie, with their sucky mouths chock full of teeth, eel-like bodies and parasitic behaviors. And, it appears the water creatures off clues to the origin of our fight-or-flight instinct. More from Popular Science. https://flip.it/E1UeWQ #Science#MarineBiology#Ocean#Animals
American marine biologist, conservationist, and writer Rachel Carson died #OTD in 1964.
She is best known for her groundbreaking book "Silent Spring," published in 1962, which brought attention to the environmental impact of pesticides, particularly DDT, and sparked a global environmental movement. The book is often credited with inspiring the modern environmental movement and the establishment of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
"The most alarming of all man's assaults upon the environment is the contamination of air, earth, rivers, and sea with dangerous and even lethal materials. This pollution is for the most part irrecoverable; the chain of evil it initiates not only in the world that must support life but in living tissues is for the most part irreversible."
What’s inside this cigar box? A black smoker - with giant tube worms (Riftia pachyptila) for #InsertAnInvert2024. I’ve had the idea for this #multimedia in my head for years! Cigar box, collaged papers, gouache, Posca pen, glue, washi tape.
I’ve never had the opportunity to go on a research cruise to a hydrothermal vent, though I have contributed to plans for monitoring and seen a lot of footage shot by 🧵1/n
Hundreds of thousands of By-the-wind-sailors (Velella velella; which are an unusual floating colonial athecate hydroid) just blanketing Asilomar this morning 🤯 They're making the waves thick with their doomed corpses. There was also a bonus Gulfweed Crab (Planes minutus) hanging around.
“It’s not a normal species you see here so it was very cool to see,” Brulot-Sawchyn said.
He was right about it being unusual, the praya dubia or giant #siphonophore generally lives in the #mesopelagic zone, 300 to 700 metres under the sea, said Moira Galbraith a #marine biologist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
There is a strange underwater creature called the pistol (or snapping) #shrimp, which uses shock waves to kill enemies or prey at a distance with no need for direct contact.
Nick Hawker often likens what the #PistolShrimp does to #inertial confinement #fusion. The shrimp’s shock-collapsed bubble does not reach anything near fusion conditions, but the burst of light testifies to an enormous concentration of energy.
A modern sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus) and its 5 m long relative Carcharias cuspidatus from the Oligocene. The size is known from a partial skeleton that was found near Rauenberg in Baden-Württemberg.
New research into how baleen #whales make low, vibrating sounds is also highlighting the serious dangers these animals face from ocean noise pollution.
"These animals perceive danger by hearing," said Hussein Alidina, lead specialist for marine conservation with WWF Canada. "So if that aspect is getting masked or interfered with, then it poses a danger to them."
A wildlife filmmaker and biology student appear to have captured the first-known footage of a newborn great white shark. Read about it at Science Alert, and watch video of the moment, among many others, caught by a drone camera off the coast of Santa Barbara, Calif. https://flip.it/uME2nw #Science#Sharks#MarineBiology#GreatWhiteSharks#Ocean
25-JAN-2024
Unexpected #biodiversity on the ocean floor
"We should be extremely careful with potential future deep-sea mining, as these unique species carry high #extinction risk."
TIL; Discovered in 2002, #Osedax, or "bone-eating worms," are deep-sea annelids thriving on vertebrate bones. Their unique adaptation involves symbiotic gut bacteria, including Oceanospirillales, within specialised root-like structures aiding decomposition. These bacteria play a crucial role in breaking down bone matter, showcasing intricate microbial partnerships vital for survival.