Today's Catch
Mar 1, 2013
Credit:Flickr User wildestanimal
Seals and sea lions have many similarities, and are in the same family of Pinnipeds, but they lead very different lives. Seals are smaller than sea lions; male Stellar sea lions can grow to be up to 2,200 pounds. Seals also are suited to spend more time in the water than sea lions, which can "walk" on shore with their large flippers and spend time in large social groups. Another give-away is that...Read more
Feb 28, 2013
Credit:Exploring the Inner Space of the Celebes Sea 2007 Exploration, NOAA-OE.
How many animals swim in the sea? It's not easy to count them all. To get a feel for the ocean's diversity, scientists, such as those involved in the Census of Marine Life , sail out on research cruises to collect and count as many animals as they can find! Shown here is a sample of zooplankton collected in a trawl net with a 10-meter-square opening, including a jellyfish, a lanternfish, a snipe...Read more
Feb 27, 2013
Credit:Alan D. Wilson
The polar bear ( Ursus maritimus ) is found in the Arctic and classified as a vulnerable species by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. This marine mammal can swim more than 30 miles when sea ice has receded due to warm temperatures. Listen to a podcast from Encyclopedia of Life that tells the story of two personal encounters with a polar bear!Read more
Feb 26, 2013
Credit:© Lollo Enstad/San Diego Natural History Museum
Two fossilized teeth from a megalodon ( Carcharodon megalodon ) dating back more than 20 million years. The ancestry of great white sharks has long been debated, but by looking closer at shark teeth scientists know that the giant megatooth shark was not an ancestor of the great white shark. More about the great white shark can be found in our Great White Shark featured story .Read more
Feb 25, 2013
Credit:Caine Delacy
When you think of African animals, what do you think of? Probably the “Big Five:” lions, elephants, leopards, buffalo and rhinos. But Africa also has an incredible amount of marine diversity in the coral reefs and open water surrounding the continent. Consider the ocean’s “Big Five” —whale sharks, giant manta rays, humpback whales, dolphins, tiger sharks—in this blog post from a researcher...Read more
Feb 21, 2013
Credit:Jeff Yonover/Nature's Best Photography
These beautiful pink and yellow shimmering fish ( Parapriacanthus ransonneti ) live in large groups among corals and in caves where they feed on zooplankton at night. “Golden sweepers form schools in reef crevices and caves and among coral heads. The technique I employed to make this image was a long exposure and rear curtain synchronization combined with a circular rotation of the camera during...Read more
Feb 20, 2013
Credit:Antoine N'Yeurt, Moorea Biocode Project
A strain of this green seaweed , native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans, escaped public and private aquariums in California, Japan, Australia, and Monaco. It has spread widely in the Mediterranean , replacing native plants and depriving marine life of food and habitat. In California , it was eradicated at considerable cost using toxic chemicals. Read " No Passport Required: Five Invaders You...Read more
Feb 19, 2013
The majestic and highly predatory red lionfish ( Pterois volitans ) , native to the Indo-Pacific, is invading Atlantic waters. The lionfish is a popular home aquarium species, and some were most likely dumped off the Florida coast when no longer wanted. The result is a lionfish population explosion that now threatens native species like snapper, grouper, and sea bass. Read " Five Invasive Species...Read more
Feb 15, 2013
Credit:Courtesy of Alexander Semenov, Flickr
This pair of sea butterflies ( Limacina helicina ) flutter not far from the ocean's surface in the Arctic. Sea butterflies are a type of sea snail, but instead of dragging themselves around the seafloor with a muscular foot, they flap their adapted feet like butterfly wings! They are very small—rarely exceeding 1 centimeter long—but very abundant in some areas of the Arctic Ocean, where they feed...Read more
Feb 13, 2013
Credit:Tony Brown, Flickr
In November 2012, Australia began protecting a huge swath of its ocean from overfishing and oil exploration, creating the largest network of marine reserves in the world at a grand total of 1.2 million square miles (3.1 million square kilometers). The area, a third of the continent’s territorial waters, includes an underwater canyon as large as the U.S. Grand Canyon, seagrass meadows, and the...Read more