UnderwaterTimes Newswire

Shedding light on the limits of life in extreme environments, scientists have discovered abundant and diverse metabolically active bacteria in the brine of an Antarctic lake sealed under more than 65 feet of ice. The finding, described in this week's issue ...

A new approach to invisibility cloaking may one day be used at sea to shield floating objects â€" such as oil rigs and ships â€" from rough waves. Unlike most other cloaking techniques that rely on transformation optics, this one is based ...

In the marine world, high-energy prey make for high-energy predators. And to survive, such marine predators need to sustain the right kind of high-energy diet. Not just any prey will do, suggests a new ...

Beneath the 20-foot waves that crested off Delaware's coast during Hurricane Sandy, thrashing waters reshaped the floor of the ocean, churning up fine sand and digging deep ripples into the seabed. Fish, crustaceans and other marine life were blasted ...

New research from Georgia Aquarium and Georgia Institute of Technology provides evidence that a suite of techniques called "metabolomics" can be used to determine the health status of whale sharks (Rhincodon typus), the world's largest fish species. The study, led ...

Many people will not have had any real-life contact with marine creatures like dolphins, whales, and sharks, other than via the media, despite the increase in marine-fauna tourism, a University of Canterbury researcher said. Because there ...

Marine scientists working in the Celtic Sea have discovered a natural refuge for the critically endangered flapper skate. Many elasmobranchs (sharks, rays and skates) are highly vulnerable to over-fishing, but a new paper in the open access journal ...

At least one-third of the species that inhabit the world's oceans may remain completely unknown to science. That's despite the fact that more species have been described in the last decade than in any previous one, according to ...

The breeding population of chinstrap penguins has declined significantly as temperatures have rapidly warmed on the Antarctic Peninsula, according to researchers funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The study indicates that changing climatic conditions, rather than the ...

Big fish that have grown up in marine reserves don't seem to know enough to avoid fishers armed with spear guns waiting outside the reserve. The latest research by an Australian team working in the Philippines into the effects of ...

Crocodiles and alligators are notorious for their thick skin and well-armored bodies. So it comes as something of a surprise to learn that their sense of touch is one of the most acute in the animal kingdom. The ...

Corals under attack by toxic seaweed do what anyone might do when threatened â€" they call for help. A study reported this week in the journal Science shows that threatened corals send signals to fish "bodyguards" that quickly respond to trim ...

For the kinds of animals that are most familiar to us â€" ones that are big enough to see â€" it's a no-brainer: Is it better to sit around and wait for food to come to you, or to move ...

A whale that is almost unknown to science has been seen for the first time after two individualsâ€"a mother and her male calfâ€"were stranded and died on a New Zealand beach. A report in the November 6th issue ...

Shark conservation charity, Bite-Back chose yesterday, Halloween, to launch a shocking real life horror film that exposes the gory truth about the shark fishing industry and the controversial practice of 'finning' live sharks at sea. In 24 hours the ...

nvasive lionfish may never be eradicated from Florida's coastal waters, but it's possible to keep them under control â€" in specific, targeted areas and using plenty of manpower, a new University of Florida study shows. Native to the Indo-Pacific, ...

Concern is growing that human-generated noise in the ocean disrupts marine animals that rely on sound for communication and navigation. In the modern ocean, the background noise can be ten times louder than it was just 50 years ago. ...

Samples of albacore tuna caught off the West Coast of the United States show minute traces of radiation that can be traced to the Fukushima reactor disaster, according to an interdisciplinary team of scientists from Oregon State University and the ...

Is the seafood you're buying what the label, sign or menu says it is? Concern is growing nationwide that restaurants, seafood markets and even some supermarkets are selling mislabeled seafood. Consumer Reports found that 18% of seafood samples its researchers collected ...

For the first time, researchers have been able to show by acoustic analysis that whalesâ€"or at least one very special white whaleâ€"can imitate the voices of humans. That's a surprise, because whales typically produce sounds in a manner ...

Loggerhead sea turtle nesting was near a 24-year high along Florida beaches this year, according to data compiled by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) researchers. The loggerhead is listed federally as a threatened species. Trained surveyors from ...

Salt marshes have been disintegrating and dying over the past two decades along the U.S. Eastern Seaboard and other highly developed coastlines without anyone fully understanding why. This week in the journal Nature, scientist Linda Deegan of the Marine ...

Dolphins sleep with only one half of their brains at a time, and according to new research published Oct. 17 in the open access journal PLOS ONE, this trait allows them to stay constantly alert for at least 15 days in a ...

Sick corals might be stressed but not necessarily contagious â€" an important finding for predicting diseases outbreaks on threatened coral reefs, according to research by Mote Marine Laboratory and Florida Institute of Technology scientists who have completed the largest-ever ...

Marine wildlife artist and conservationist Dr. Guy Harvey is leading a petition drive calling on the government of the Cayman Islands to immediately put the National Conservation Law into effect, ensuring the safety and protection of all stingrays in the ...

A year-long undercover investigation conducted by the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) at the Cayman Turtle Farm, a popular tourist destination and the world's last remaining facility that raises sea turtles for slaughter, has revealed ...

After examining an eye found on a south Florida beach this week, researchers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) believe the specimen came from a swordfish. Genetic testing will be done to confirm the identification. "Experts on ...

Coral specialist Dr. Bert W. Hoeksema of Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden, The Netherlands, recently published the description of a new coral species that lives on the ceilings of caves in Indo-Pacific coral reefs. It differs from its ...

A study of children in the New Bedford, Mass., area suggests that low-level prenatal mercury exposure may be associated with a greater risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-related behaviors and that fish consumption during ...

At least 37 countries, including the United States and Mexico, have proposed protections for ten shark and ray species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The U.S. will join Colombia in leading an effort to secure ...

Manta rays are more likely to gather together under either a new or a full moon, according to new research published Oct 3 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Fabrice Jaine and colleagues at the University of Queensland. The ...

A longterm study conducted by researchers at George Mason University may be a benchmark in determining health threats to marine mammals. Over ten years of research in Belize was conducted studying the behavioral ecology, life history and health of manatees ...

Changes in ocean and climate systems could lead to smaller fish, according to a new study led by fisheries scientists at the University of British Columbia. The study, published today in the journal Nature Climate Change, provides the first-...

Water does not forget, says Prof. Boris Koch, a chemist at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association. Irrespective of what happens in the sea: whether the sun shines, algae bloom or a school ...

White sharks, the largest predatory sharks in the ocean, are thought of as apex predators that feed primarily on seals and sea lions. But a new study by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, shows surprising variability in ...

Millions of pounds of unexploded bombs and other military ordnance that were dumped decades ago in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as off the coasts of both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, could now pose serious threats to shipping ...

Cod are among Sweden's most common and most popular edible fish and have been fished hard for many years. One consequence is the risk of serious changes in cod stocks, reveals research from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. In overfished ...

About 100 years ago, marine biologists hauled the first vampire squid up from the depths of the sea. Since that time, perhaps a dozen scientific papers have been published on this mysterious animal, but no one has been able to figure ...

In a strong affirmation of the Golden State's commitment to the environment, Governor Brown today designated the endangered Pacific leatherback sea turtle as California's official state marine reptile by signing into law Assembly Bill (AB) 1776 by Assemblymember Fong (...

Carbon dioxide released from decaying algal blooms, combined with ongoing increases in atmospheric carbon emissions, leads to increased levels of ocean acidification, and places additional stress on marine resources and the coastal economies that depend on them, according to a ...