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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: marine biology

marine biology stories: 10 news summaries

 Taxi-Sized Squid 
 Caught off 
 Louisiana 

20-foot creature is the first giant squid ever netted by Gulf researchers

Sep 23, 09 2:39 AM CDT
(Newser) - Scientists studying whale diets in the Gulf of Mexico unexpectedly hauled in a giant squid half as long as a school bus, Reuters reports. The 19.5-foot-long creature dragged up from 1,500 feet below the sea off Louisiana is the first giant squid found in the area in over... More »

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giant squid • squid • Gulf of Mexico • marine life • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration • marine biology

New England Starfish Boom Baffles Experts

Shellfish predators' population worries fishermen

Jun 15, 09 3:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - New England beaches are swarming with starfish this spring, and nobody’s sure why, the Boston Globe reports. The spike may be connected to shellfish population; it could be due to a drop in spider crabs, which prey on starfish; it could be tied to water temperature or wind patterns.... More »

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population • biology • animal • marine biology • fishermen • starfish • animal population • shellfish

Climate Change May Tank World's Fish Stocks

Scientists predict huge upheaval to marine populations

Feb 13, 09 8:03 AM CST
(Newser) - The world's supplies of fish face major upheaval, scientists warn, as climate change forces species from shrimp to herring away from warming waters toward the poles. The BBC reports that in 40 years, American fishermen may see a 50% reduction in the population of Atlantic cod. "The impact of... More »

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climate change • environment • fish • fishing • marine biology • fishermen • cod

 Fishing Banned 
 in Melting Arctic 

Federal panel moves to block trawlers from newly accessible waters

Feb 6, 09 5:07 AM CST
(Newser) - A federal panel has voted to block fishing trawlers from moving into a vast area of the Arctic Sea made newly accessible by melting ice, the New York Times reports. The move will protect 150,000 square nautical miles of US waters north of the Bering Strait while scientists assess... More »

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climate change • global warming • fishing • ice melt • Bering Strait • Arctic Sea • fishing ban • marine biology

To Find the Killer Whale, Scientists Think Like One

Off of Scotland, team stakes out its prey

Jan 25, 09 5:52 PM CST
(Newser) - Killer whales spend most of their time tracking their prey, and so do the scientists who study them. Marine biologists at Scotland's St. Andrews University spent 3 months among the Shetland Islands in search of their cetacean quarry, and caught sight of whales only about 12 times. They explain to... More »

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Scotland • whales • marine biology • orca • killer whale

Dolphins' Hunting Tools Mostly Used by Females

Dolphin moms pass skills on to daughters; males do their own thing

Dec 26, 08 12:44 PM CST
(Newser) - Beside humans, few other animals use tools to get their everyday chores done. Even fewer of them are marine mammals, so researchers in Australia were surprised to catch bottlenose dolphins employing conical sponges to dig in the seafloor. Mostly female dolphins use the snout-protectors, and only if their mothers showed... More »

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Australia • nature vs. nurture • dolphins • marine mammals • marine biology • tools

Ocean Census Surprises Scientists

Effort to chart all undersea life by 2010 finds 5K new species

Nov 10, 08 10:32 AM CST
(Newser) - Somewhere under the Antarctic Ocean, brittle starfish completely cover a submerged mountain. In the Pacific, sharks congregate in a region with few food sources but plenty of opportunity for romance. Those facts, along with an accounting of more than 5,000 newly discovered species, are part of the results of... More »

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Atlantic Ocean • shark • Pacific Ocean • ocean • species • ocean habitats • marine biology • Arctic Ocean • Census of Marine Life • Antarctic Ocean • starfish

 Scientists Confirm 
 Shark's Virgin Birth 

Virginia aquarium blacktip got pregnant without need for shark sperm

Oct 10, 08 8:34 AM CDT
(Newser) - A blacktip shark at a Virginia aquarium got pregnant despite not having been around a male of her kind for a decade, the Virginian-Pilot reports. Scientists have long suspected that sharks, like some smaller vertebrates, could reproduce asexually but this is only the second confirmed case. Tests showed the baby... More »

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reproduction • shark • parthenogenesis • marine life • aquarium • marine biology

 Fish Found at Record Depth

New device can retrieve live creatures from high-pressure deep-sea zones

Jul 31, 08 1:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Scientists have captured a live fish from a record 7,500 feet under the Atlantic Ocean, the BBC reports. A new device allows recovery of live creatures from much farther down than was previously possible. The expedition to learn more about life around hydrothermal vents deep beneath the ocean also... More »

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Atlantic Ocean • ocean • fish • marine life • seabed • marine biology • overfishing

Collosal Squid Has World's Biggest Eyes

They're the size of dinner plates, 'largest ever recorded'

Apr 30, 08 7:27 PM CDT
(Newser) - With eyes bigger than dinner plates and orange-sized lenses, a colossal squid being dissected by New Zealand scientists boasts the biggest peepers of any animal—and larger relatives could lurk in the deep, the Telegraph reports. It's "certainly not the largest specimen out there," said one marine biologist,... More »

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science • giant squid • history • marine biology

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