Roaming the ancient seas eons ago, the megalodon shark eviscerated its prey with jaws that were 10 feet wide.
Warpaintcobra/iStock via Getty Images Plus
Frilled sharks haven’t changed for about 80 million years! And while they may look a bit like snakes from a distance, they are actually much more similar to other sharks close up.
The sound of the marine environment has been underestimated, mainly because it is not audible to the human ear.
(Shutterstock)
Thomas Uboldi, Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR)
The ocean is often considered a silent universe. But many recent studies highlight the importance of the soundscape for many marine species, both large and small.
Don’t call them tentacles: An octopus has eight arms.
TheSP4N1SH/iStock via Getty Images Plus
Viruses do more than just cause disease – they also influence ecosystems and the processes that shape the planet. Tracing their evolution could help researchers better understand how viruses work.
Erica Nielsen, University of California, Davis e Sam Walkes, University of California, Davis
The Blob, a long-lasting mass of warm water, sat off the Pacific coast of North America for years, bringing new species to formerly cold waters. What allows some to survive while others fade away?
For centuries, sailors have told tales of milky seas – huge swaths of ocean glowing on dark nights, seen in blue in this false–color satellite image.
Steven D. Miller/NOAA
When conditions are just right in some parts of the Indian Ocean, a type of bacteria will multiply and start to glow. Satellites are helping scientists study these milky seas for the first time.
Ophiojura, discovered living on a seamount deep in the Pacific Ocean, is the last known survivor of a unique group of animals that diverged from its closest relatives way back in the Jurassic period.
The Chagos Reef was vibrant before the heat wave.
Ken Marks/Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation
If octopuses simply started evolving a smarter brain, what stops them from ruling over humans? Why has this not happened already? An expert explains what these cephalopods might be capable of.
Scientist and seal, under the Antarctic ice.
McMurdo Oceanographic Observatory
Microphones on the seafloor recorded life under the Antarctic ice for two years – inadvertently catching seal trills and chirps that are above the range of human hearing. Could they be for navigation?
Lee Smee, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi e Joseph W. Reustle, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Hurricane Harvey destroyed the fishing infrastructure of Aransas Bay and reduced fishing by 80% over the following year. This removed humans from the trophic cascade and whole food webs changed.
Manganese nodules on the Atlantic Ocean floor off the southeastern United States, discovered in 2019 during the Deep Sea Ventures pilot test.
National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration
Companies are eager to mine the deep ocean for valuable mineral deposits. But scientists are concerned about impacts on sea life, including creatures that haven’t even been discovered yet.