The Ocean Blog

The fossil squalodontid skull was located in the middle of the tidal environment in Panama, giving researchers the added challenge of racing the tide for the excavation. The team was successful in their efforts, conducting an excavation that would normally take two days in just four hours.

CREDIT: 

Aaron O'Dea

Fossil Whale Found, Excavated, Jacketed, and Returned to STRI!

Publish by: Nicholas D. Pyenson - Jun 23, 2011
Jorge and I packed up the night we arrived in Panama with Aaron O'Dea and his team from STRI . The road we took in two field vehicles mostly followed the Panama Canal heading northwards; we had to stop at a tanker ship crossing, where the locks separated the roadway. Quite an engineering marvel. We spent the night in Achiote, fell asleep listening to howler monkeys, and awoke to the sights of hummingbirds and more toucans. Before heading out to the fossil locality on the Caribbean coast, we had a wonderful breakfast at a cantina by the side of the road: roasted chicken, plantains and some...
Tags: Caribbean, Paleobiology, Smithsonian scientists, Whales
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Before heading out to the fossil locality in Piña, Panama on the Caribbean coast, the team of researchers have a full breakfast at a cantina by the side of the road: roasted chicken, plantains, and some coffee.

CREDIT: 

Jorge Velez-Juarbe

At STRI, No Whales Yet, But There Are Fossil Sea Cows...

Publish by: Nicholas D. Pyenson - Jun 18, 2011
Jorge and I arrived in Panama City around 3 pm this afternoon, and took a taxi to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI)'s headquarters in the Gorgas neighborhood of downtown Panama City. The temperature's about like it would be in D.C. on a hot day, but, much to our amazement, there are giant, beautiful avocados and mangos hanging from the trees, along with monkeys and toucans. (Apparently they pass for the Central American counterparts of rats and pigeons). Pretty neat though! We're getting a quick tour of the buildings from our host, Aaron, who works for the Center for Tropical...
Tags: Paleobiology, Smithsonian scientists, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
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The first thing the researchers did when they arrived on site was outline the general excavation area and take careful measurements of exposed fossils. Next, they applied acrylic glue to any exposed bone to help stabilize it. Then a small surface-layer cap of plaster bandages is applied to the skull to protect it from any errant whacks while digging. Finally, the digging begins, and scientists work to make a deep trench around the skull (shown here).  The trench allows the researchers to apply a plaster bandage cap around the block of rock containing the fossils in order to extract the skull from the rocks in which it is entombed.

CREDIT: 

Jorge Velez-Juarbe

Expedition to Excavate a Fossil Whale

Publish by: Nicholas D. Pyenson - Jun 17, 2011
My graduate student Jorge and I are departing today for Panama, to excavate a fossil whale that was discovered by an undergraduate student working with Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute researcher Aaron O'Dea . From extensive conversations with Aaron, and some excellent preliminary photos, it seems that the fossil whale (consisting of a skull and a shoulder blade, so far) belongs to a group of completely extinct toothed whales called Squalodontidae. If you're familiar with Latin roots, their taxonomic name reveals a key diagnostic feature of these extinct whales: they possess unusally...
Tags: Cetaceans, Dolphins, Paleobiology, Smithsonian scientists, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Whales
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Male leafy seadragons (Phycodurus eques) are among the ocean's more "devoted dads." They carry the developing eggs for about a month, until they hatch.

CREDIT: 

David Gray, FishWise Professional

Devoted Dads: From Seahorses to Sea Spiders

Publish by: Nancy Knowlton - Jun 14, 2011
If youngsters get cared for at all, the mother is usually involved. But in fish and a few other groups where eggs are not abandoned, fathers are the primary care providers. Males are sometimes such devoted dads that it takes longer for them to care for the young than it does for the females to produce the eggs. If potential fathers are in limited supply, stereotypical male and female roles get reversed, with males more interested in food and females more interested in sex. Some male fish build nests. A male will accept the eggs of more than one female, because he only has to defend them and...
Tags: Citizens of the Sea, Reproduction, Seahorses
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Shark-lover and Minnesota native Sophi Bromenshenkel poses with her hammerhead snow sculpture. The eight-year-old is one of Oceana's 2011 Ocean Heroes.

CREDIT: 

Courtesy of Neil Bromenshenkel

Saving Sharks and Dolphins, Near and Far

Publish by: Alena Kuczynski - Jun 9, 2011
Sophi Bromenshenkel is an unlikely shark -lover. She's eight years old and hails from Minnesota, a state that couldn't be further from the ocean. But a family vacation to Florida changed everything. When she saw a pregnant bull shark left for dead on a beach, Sophie knew she needed to help. Known by many at her school as “shark girl,” Sophi has raised more than $3,500 for shark research and conservation efforts. Through lemonade, hot chocolate, and cookie sales she’s garnered funds and increased awareness of the plight of sharks. Sophi’s proceeds help sustain the shark-tagging program at the...
Tags: Dolphins
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Fiction or non-fiction, short or epic...what are your favorite books about the ocean?

CREDIT: 

By Álvaro Canivell (Flickr name oooh.oooh)

Summer Beach Reads

Publish by: Tina Tennessen - May 26, 2011
Memorial Day is nearly upon us. We thought it'd be a good time to think about our summer beach reads. And yes, we're taking the phrase literally. (A quick aside: As a Minnesota-native I'd argue that winter is an equally good time to embark on an ocean reading list. Especially if the subject matter veers in the tropical direction.) As the Ocean Portal has done in the past, we want to hear about your favorite marine-themed books. Fiction or non-fiction. Short stories or epics. Old or new. We hope you'll share the titles and your thoughts about them in the comments section below. I personally...
Tags: Ocean books
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Guests enjoy American wines and seafood at the Smithsonian's 2010 sustainable seafood event. Learn more about this year's event, Demystifying Seafood.

CREDIT: 

Emily Hayes Photography

Demystifying Seafood

Publish by: Maggy Hunter Benson - May 17, 2011
Calling all fans of Bravo's "Top Chef" reality show: the Smithsonian Resident Associate Program is hosting Demystifying Seafood , a wine and dine event at the National Museum of Natural History on Thursday evening, June 9, 2011. "Top Chef" runner up Mike Isabella, fan favorite Carla Hall, season one contestant Sam Talbot, and over 30 other acclaimed chefs will be preparing "sustainable seafood" dishes for guests. The event also features wines from 25 vineyards from California to Virginia . As a consumer, it can be difficult figuring out how to choose seafood that is healthy for you, the...
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Scientists have been studying why populations of crown-of-thorns sea stars (Acanthaster planci) have mushroomed in recent decades. Coral reefs can suffer when the sea star's numbers explode; the echinoderm has a healthy appetite and few predators.

CREDIT: 

Klaus Jost, www.jostimages.com

A Plague of Sea Stars

Publish by: Chris Mah - May 11, 2011
Sea stars are important members of marine ecosystems, especially in the tropics. We may think of tropical coral reefs as being home mainly to fish and corals, but in fact these habitats are home to a huge diversity of ecologically important invertebrates. Sometimes, human influences can throw off the balance between these invertebrates, resulting in a cascade effect that negatively affects the entire coral reef ecosystem. A case study of this imbalance can be found in the tropical Indo-Pacific crown-of-thorns sea star (COTS). (Scientific name= Acanthaster planci ) Meet the Crown-of-Thorns Sea...
Tags: Biodiversity, Corals, Echinoderms, Smithsonian scientists, Tropical
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Killer whales (Orcinus orca) have something in common with humans: early menopause.

CREDIT: 

Robert L. Pitman, NOAA Fisheries, USA

Menopausal Moms: A Mammal Mystery

Publish by: Nancy Knowlton - May 6, 2011
In honor of Mother's Day, the Citizens of the Sea blog salutes ocean-going mothers everywhere. Especially a 60 year-old albatross named Wisdom. She holds the seabird records for both oldest bird and oldest new mother. No stranger to motherhood, it is estimated that she has already birthed 30-35 other chicks. This made us wonder, why can Wisdom give birth well into her twilight years while human females call it quits 20-40 years early? And Wisdom is hardly alone - baleen whales can reproduce well into their 90s! In fact, human females are the oddballs here and a bit of a puzzle. Evolution...
Tags: Nancy Knowlton, Reproduction, Whales
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Like other cephalopods, the common cuttlefish (Sepia officials Linnaeus, 1758) possesses serious brain power.

CREDIT: 

Hans Hillewaert, WoRMS for SMEBD

So You Think You're Smarter Than a Cephalopod?

Publish by: WendyWilliams - May 5, 2011
The blanket octopus can rip a poisonous tentacle from a Portuguese man-o-war and wield it like a sword to ward off enemies as it soars through the ocean trailing its webbed cloak behind it. Vampyroteuthis infernalis , the vampire squid from hell, has been egregiously misnamed. This poor little thing – more like a wallflower or a tumbleweed than a devil from hell – is sometimes reduced to defending itself by biting off its own arm tip. Then the tip floats off, sparkling its blue lights in the darkness and luring away the enemy. The giant Pacific octopus with its eight huge arms can pass a...
Tags: Cephalopods, Cuttlefish, Intelligence, Octopuses, Squids
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