marine life

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Navy-Trained Dolphins Tapped for Rescue Mission

Fewer than 40 vaquita porpoises are left in the world

(Newser) - Your mission, dolphins, should you choose to accept it: Rescue a rare porpoise threatened with extinction. That's the assignment for a group of US Navy-trained dolphins that Mexican officials hope will save the endangered vaquita, the BBC reports. The plan is for the dolphins to find the pint-size porpoises,...

Blob-Like Intruders Infesting Pacific Coast

Pyrosomes are ripping fishing nets and washing up on beaches

(Newser) - They are called "unicorns of the sea" and they are infesting the Pacific Coast, destroying fishing nets and puzzling scientists, the Guardian reports. The tiny blob-like creatures are infesting some stretches of the West Coast as far north as Alaska so badly that fishermen can't catch anything. The...

&#39;Unicorn of Mollusks&#39; Uncovered in Philippines
After Centuries, Scientists
Find Live Giant Shipworm
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Apr 23, 2017 10:33 AM CDT

After Centuries, Scientists Find Live Giant Shipworm

Rare species is like the 'unicorn of mollusks'

(Newser) - The giant shipworm is actually an extremely long clam—and it is so rare that although it has been known to science for centuries, researchers are only now getting a look at a live one for the first time. Five 3-foot-long specimens found in a lagoon full of rotting wood...

Why This One Dead Sea Creature Is Such a Big Deal

Only about 30 vaquita are left, with another carcass found in Gulf of California

(Newser) - Not even military dolphins could save this vaquita. The carcass of one of the endangered porpoises, whose Spanish name translates to "little cow," was discovered floating near the Baja California shoreline Sunday in the latest blow to a rapidly diminishing population, NBC Los Angeles reports. The vaquita was...

People Who Saw This Fish Fear a Quake Is Coming

Multiple specimens of rarely seen sea creature turn up in Philippines

(Newser) - Every couple of years, a mysterious rare fish that resembles a serpent washes up on some beach , generating buzz about the bony sea creature and worries about earthquakes until it fades from memory again. In what National Geographic pegs as a "poorly understood phenomenon," it's happened again,...

Deal Creates World's Biggest Marine Protected Zone

24 countries, EU finally reached agreement

(Newser) - The countries that decide the fate of Antarctica reached a historic agreement on Friday to create the world's largest marine protected area in the ocean next to the frozen continent. The agreement comes after years of diplomatic wrangling and high-level talks between the US and Russia, which has rejected...

Minivan-Sized Sea Sponge Is New to Science

It was found deep in waters off Hawaii

(Newser) - Researchers in Hawaii have been absorbed by a sea creature they discovered last summer, and their findings are pretty big. The team of scientists on a deep-sea expedition in the waters off Hawaii discovered what they say is the world's largest known sponge. The creature, roughly the size of...

Surprise Ocean News: The Octopus Is Booming

Cephalopods increasing in changing waters

(Newser) - You don't have to look far to find bad news about the world's oceans— overfishing , unhealthy coral reefs , you name it—but one group of sea creatures seems to be doing quite well in this changing world: cephalopods. A study in Cell Biology finds that octopuses, squid, and...

Plastic-Laden Plankton Poop Polluting the Ocean Depths
Plankton Poop Could Now
Do Harm Instead of Good
NEW STUDY
Mar 1, 2016 7:00 AM CST

Plankton Poop Could Now Do Harm Instead of Good

Plastic is moving around ocean waters via feces

(Newser) - The amount of plastic in our oceans is now popping up as gigantic islands and set to outpace the global fish population by 2050. But it's also settling ever so slowly on the ocean floor in the form of plankton poop. And because plastic-laden poop is lighter and falls...

There's Something Seriously Wrong With Our Seabirds

Seabirds that soared for 60M years crashed in just 60 years

(Newser) - There are nearly 350 species of seabirds roaming the planet, ranging from the wandering albatross (with the world's largest wingspan) and the child-size emperor penguin (the only bird to breed in Antarctic winters) to tiny storm petrels that dance on the water as they eat, reports the Guardian . But...

Sea Life Has Halved Since 1970
 Sea Life Has Halved Since 1970 
Sep 16, 2015 6:41 AM CDT

Sea Life Has Halved Since 1970

Decline has been dramatic, and researchers say we're to blame

(Newser) - The oceans, with more than 90% of the habitable space on Earth, still contain most of the life on our planet, but there's a lot less of it than there was just 45 years ago, according to a deeply dispiriting report from the World Wildlife Fund. The group, which...

This Man's Plan: Swim Around the World in 450 Days

Martin Strel will pass through bodies of water in 100-plus countries

(Newser) - Martin Strel swims with a knife strapped to his right leg—in case he encounters sharks, "vampire" fish, and other deadly marine life in the world's wildest waters. Yesterday, the 60-year-old marathon swimmer from Phoenix announced the toughest feat of his life: a 10,000-mile around-the-world voyage on...

New Tactic Cuts Shark Attacks, Saves Sharks

In Brazil, dangerous ones are relocated to deep waters

(Newser) - Researchers in Brazil say they've found a way to curb shark attacks without culling sharks—which, if true, is good news for conservationists who oppose lethal means of controlling sharks in South Africa and Australia, LiveScience reports. The Brazilian program was tried off and on for nearly 10 years...

Serious Problem in the Ocean: Sardine Crash
 Serious Problem in the 
 Ocean: Sardine Crash 
in case you missed it
Jan 11, 2014 7:51 AM CST

Serious Problem in the Ocean: Sardine Crash

Predators, fishermen suffering as a result

(Newser) - The West Coast sardine population was down 72% since 2006 per a fall assessment—the worst crash since the mid-20th century, and one with far-reaching implications, particularly since the steep decline is expected to continue. One of those implications: Ocean predators that depend on sardines may be starving, the Los ...

Sharks Would Rather Sneak Up on Us From Behind

 Sharks Would Rather 
 Sneak Up on Us 
 From Behind 
in case you missed it
Dec 21, 2013 7:00 PM CST

Sharks Would Rather Sneak Up on Us From Behind

But their motives aren't necessarily sinister: study

(Newser) - Given a choice, sharks like to swim up on humans from behind, a new study suggests. But that's not necessarily because they're looking for lunch—they may just want to avoid trouble, say scientists at the Shark Research Institute in Florida. Their study in Animal Cognition backs up...

Climate Change Moving Marine Life 4 Miles Every Year

Could be fatal for some

(Newser) - Climate change is really jerking animals around—literally. A new international study has found marine life is moving an average of 4.3 miles towards the poles each year, while land animals are moving about 3,280 feet, as ocean and air temperatures rise, the Guardian reports. "We knew...

One of Ocean's Most Elusive Creatures Filmed

Clip offers close-up of 8-foot-long oarfish

(Newser) - Now the world can finally get a good look at one of the ocean's more mysterious creatures, the oarfish, believed to be the longest bony fish in existence—basically, the longest fish that's not a ray or shark, LiveScience reports. While researchers were investigating the Deepwater Horizon oil...

Post-Coital Fatigue Can Be Deadly for ...

... Squids, which are exhausted by 3-hour sex marathons

(Newser) - Luckily most of us don't have to hunt for food or dodge predators right after mating. But squids aren't so lucky, and strenuous sex romps leave them exhausted for about half an hour, the New Zealand Herald reports. Researchers in Australia studied the "southern dumpling squid" and...

Expedition Charts 'Plasticized' Pacific

'Synthetic soup' extends far into western Pacific

(Newser) - An expedition charting the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" has been hauling out depressing amounts of plastic from the little-studied waters of the western North Pacific gyre. "We've been finding lots of micro plastics, all the size of a grain of rice or a small marble," the...

Jellyfish-Like Creatures Shut Down Nuclear Plant

Sea salp invade Diablo Canyon

(Newser) - A horde of jellyfish-like animals has forced the shutdown of a nuclear power plant in California. The gelatinous creatures, 2 to 3 inches long, are called sea salp. The crisis began Tuesday, when workers at the Diablo Canyon plant discovered that screens which take in cooling water were clogged by...

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