All posts tagged: marine science

A New Species of Tiny Octopus Was Discovered in the Galápagos Islands

A New Species of Tiny Octopus Was Discovered in the Galápagos Islands

Published by skeptic

A tiny blue octopus that lives in the deep sea off the coast of the Galápagos Islands is so small that it can fit in the palm of a hand. And as a team of researchers coordinated by Chicago’s Field Museum announced in a new study just published in the journal Zootaxa, it now has an official name—Microeledone galapagensis. The octopus was first spotted in 2015 during a deep-sea expedition aboard the research vessel E/V Nautilus. From there, marine biologists used a remotely operated underwater vehicle (RoV) to explore the ocean floor near Darwin Island, at the northern end of the Galápagos archipelago. As the RoV’s camera moved across the seafloor near an underwater slope at a depth of 1,773 meters (5,817 feet), they noticed the tiny octopus with its vibrant blue coloring. By performing a close inspection, the researchers were able to recover the blue octopus and film two other specimens, and then, at the end of the mission, conduct a thorough analysis. It left them puzzled, however, as they were not certain which …

A ‘Golden Orb’ on the Ocean Floor Came From a Mysterious Animal

A ‘Golden Orb’ on the Ocean Floor Came From a Mysterious Animal

Published by skeptic

This species can reach 30 centimeters in diameter and live between 1,600 and 4,000 meters deep. Its biology baffles specialists because it does not quite fit the rules that define anemones and corals. Since its discovery, scientists have struggled to classify it, and its evolutionary origin remains uncertain. Relicanthus daphneae moves across the ocean floor. ‘National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) | Office of Exploration and Research (OER)’ Before the study, there was nothing linking the golden orb to the giant anemone. The report details that an initial examination found spirocytes—ultra-specialized cells that only cnidarians (the group of animals made up of anemones, corals, and jellyfish) have. This finding ruled out the possibility that it was an egg or a biofilm, as initially thought. The team then sequenced the DNA of the material to search for matches in databases. The complete mitochondrial genomes showed a 99.9 percent match to Relicanthus daphneae. The evidence pointed to the orb being part of a rare and poorly documented anemone. However, the remains did not match any known structures …

Marine Animals in the Strait of Hormuz Don’t Get a Ceasefire

Marine Animals in the Strait of Hormuz Don’t Get a Ceasefire

Published by skeptic

As noise levels rise, whales reduce their diving activity—effectively entering a forced fasting period that weakens them over time. From Disruption to Damage In the narrow, 21-mile-wide funnel of the strait, military activity introduces shock waves and pressure changes that marine species are not built to withstand. Underwater explosions can be strong enough to kill fish outright and damage the auditory systems of larger marine mammals. Aaron Bartholomew, professor of biology, chemistry, and environmental sciences at the American University of Sharjah, suggests that “while whales and dolphins may temporarily move out of areas where there is significant naval sonar activity,” the intensity of modern maritime conflict poses lethal risks. Adam warns that the impact can be lasting: “These explosions can also damage the auditory system of cetaceans, which may temporarily or permanently lose their hearing.” Even when not immediately fatal, the effects can weaken animals over time and disrupt their ability to survive in already stressed conditions. Naval mines introduce similar risks even before detonation. When triggered, they generate high-pressure shock waves that can rupture …

A North Atlantic Right Whale Baby Boom Is On—but the Species Remains at Risk

A North Atlantic Right Whale Baby Boom Is On—but the Species Remains at Risk

Published by skeptic

After nearly two decades, the baby whale came back—as a mother, with a baby of its own. Julie Albert, director of the Right Whale Sighting Network at Blue World Research Institute, a nonprofit, first laid eyes on the North Atlantic right whale known as Callosity Back in 2007 when it was still just a calf, swimming off the coast of Florida. Immediately, she says, the whale stood out. Like other North Atlantic right whales, it had callosities—patches of thick, white, rough tissue on its skin. But unlike any other known right whale, this one had those markings on its back. “That’s how she got her name,” says Albert. “She’s definitely an individual.” Then, on New Year’s Eve 2025, Callosity Back returned to Florida. A call came through from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to say that an unidentified whale and her calf had been spotted off the state’s central-eastern coast. Albert describes how she and her colleagues raced to the pool deck behind a nearby beachside hotel to get a better view and …

The Oceans Just Keep Getting Hotter

The Oceans Just Keep Getting Hotter

Published by skeptic

Since 2018, a group of researchers from around the world have crunched the numbers on how much heat the world’s oceans are absorbing each year. In 2025, their measurements broke records once again, making this the eighth year in a row that the world’s oceans have absorbed more heat than the years before. The study, which was published Friday in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Science, found that the world’s oceans absorbed an additional 23 zettajoules’ worth of heat in 2025, the most in any year since modern measurements began in the 1960s. That’s significantly higher than the 16 additional zettajoules they absorbed in 2024. The research comes from a team of more than 50 scientists across the United States, Europe, and China. A joule is a common way to measure energy. A single joule is a relatively small unit of measurement—it’s about enough to power a tiny lightbulb for a second, or slightly heat a gram of water. But a zettajoule is one sextillion joules; numerically, the 23 zettajoules the oceans absorbed this year …

Scientists film deepest ever fish on seabed off Japan

Scientists film deepest ever fish on seabed off Japan

Published by Sam Flores

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. CNN  —  Cruising at a depth of 8,336 meters (over 27,000 feet) just above the seabed, a young snailfish has become the deepest fish ever filmed by scientists during a probe into the abyss of the northern Pacific Ocean. Scientists from University of Western Australia and Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology released footage of the snailfish on Sunday filmed last September by sea robots in deep trenches off Japan. Along with the filming the deepest snailfish, the scientists physically caught two other specimens at 8,022 meters and set another record for the deepest catch. Previously, the deepest snailfish ever spotted was at 7,703 meters in 2008, while scientists had never been able to collect fish from anywhere below 8,000 meters. “What is significant is that it shows how far a particular type of fish will descend in the ocean,” said marine biologist Alan Jamieson, founder of the Minderoo-UWA Deep Sea Research Centre, who …