marine life

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In This River, Thousands of 'Social Butterflies'

Thousands of playful belugas frolic along Canada's Churchill River—and are now key to area's tourism

(Newser) - Playful large white beluga whales bring joy and healing to Hudson Bay. Their happy chirps leap out in an environment and economy threatened by the warming water that's melting sea ice, starving polar bears, and changing the entire food chain. Loud and curious belugas swarm boats here, clicking, nudging,...

Norway Says It Knows How Alleged 'Spy' Whale Died

Beluga who lived off coast of Norway succumbed to bacterial infection, police say

(Newser) - A beluga whale that lived off Norway's coast, and whose harness ignited speculation that it was a Russian spy , wasn't shot to death as claimed by animal rights groups but died of a bacterial infection, Norwegian police said Friday. A final autopsy by Norway's Veterinary Institute "...

In This Hunting Party, Octopus Acts as Punching Enforcer

Animals shown to hunt prey with fish, who do the searching for them

(Newser) - The octopus is viewed as a solitary, if not antisocial, creature, known to keep a distance from its own brethren, but new research suggests at least one species has quite the social life. Researchers recorded 120 hours of footage of 13 big blue octopuses roaming a Red Sea reef off...

This Slippery Eel Can Escape Predator's Stomach in a Minute
This Eel Can Pull Off
an 'Astonishing' Houdini
NEW STUDY
Sep 10, 2024 1:28 PM CDT

This Eel Can Pull Off an 'Astonishing' Houdini

Japanese eels can escape from a predator's stomach in less than a minute, researchers say

(Newser) - That eels are slippery is no surprise, but that they can literally slip out of a predator's stomach is "truly astonishing," according to researchers, who've recorded footage of the first-of-its-kind behavior, allowing for escape in less than a minute. "It sounds like the plot of...

Scientists Were Tracking a Shark. Then the Data Got Weird
Scientists Were Tracking
a Shark. Then It Got Eaten
in case you missed it
Sep 8, 2024 3:30 PM CDT

Scientists Were Tracking a Shark. Then It Got Eaten

They say they have first evidence of predator eating a porbeagle shark

(Newser) - Researchers captured and tagged a pregnant porbeagle shark near Cape Cod in October 2020. The 7-foot shark had two trackers attached: one was a geolocator; the other was a pop-off satellite archival tag (PSAT) that relayed info about water temperature and depth. As the scientists write in a paper published...

Texas, Meet 'Your Worst Nightmare'
Texas' 'Worst
Nightmare': Fireworms
Aug 29, 2024 8:40 AM CDT

Texas' 'Worst Nightmare': Fireworms

Texans are being warned about poisonous worms named for the pain they inflict

(Newser) - Forget about stepping on a seashell—Texans now have a new thing to be on the lookout for when they head to the shore. "WARNING!!! Your worst nightmares are washing up right now," Texas A&M's Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies cautioned earlier this...

Rescue Group Sees Its 'Largest Single Mass Stranding Event'

About 125 dolphins get stuck in low tide along Massachusetts coast; rescue is underway

(Newser) - As the tide went out Friday in the Great Island area of Wellfleet, Massachusetts, local police started getting calls around 10am local time about 125 or so stranded dolphins. Now, a rescue mission is underway to free the stuck sea creatures that survived, with the International Fund for Animal Welfare...

Where Your Seafood Now Comes From May Surprise You

More aquatic animals were farmed in 2022 than caught in the wild, per a new UN report

(Newser) - In the world of marine life, some big news. The United Nations, via its Food and Agriculture Organization, is out with its 2024 report on the state of the world's fisheries and aquaculture—the practice of breeding, raising, and harvesting aquatic organisms on farms—and for the first time,...

The Takeaway From Orca Boat Strikes: 'It's a Game'
The Takeaway From Orca
Boat Strikes: 'It's a Game'
NEW STUDY
May 28, 2024 11:16 AM CDT

The Takeaway From Orca Boat Strikes: 'It's a Game'

With full bellies, bored juveniles find fun in the risky play of bumping boats: study

(Newser) - Killer whales known to ram and sink boats off the Iberian Peninsula aren't bent on destroying humans. Rather, they're likely bored teenagers who find ship rudders incredibly entertaining, according to a new report from more than a dozen orca experts who sought to explain hundreds of boat strikes...

Girl, 11, Helps Discover Largest Ever Reptile
Girl, 11, Helps Discover
Largest Ever Reptile
NEW STUDY
May 11, 2024 1:50 PM CDT

Girl, 11, Helps Discover Largest Ever Reptile

Ichthyotitan severnensis estimated at 82 feet long, with a 7-foot-long jawbone

(Newser) - It was the largest reptile to ever prowl Earth's oceans. At some 82 feet, this giant ichthyosaur would've been nearly as large as a blue whale, a marine mammal and the largest animal known to exist at any point in the planet's history. Yet the ichthyosaur, dubbed...

Underwater Mountains Serve Up Dozens of New Species

On this expedition in the South Pacific, at least 50 new ones emerged

(Newser) - Over 40 days exploring an 1,800-mile underwater mountain chain extending from Chile to Easter Island, an international team of scientists discovered an entirely unknown species once a day on average. The team led by Erin Easton of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and Javier Sellanes of Chile'...

Off the Florida Keys, 'Emergency Response' Over Spinning Fish

NOAA has implemented an 'emergency response' to strange behaviors of dying smalltooth sawfish

(Newser) - Endangered smalltooth sawfish, marine creatures virtually unchanged for millions of years, are exhibiting erratic spinning behavior and dying in unusual numbers in Florida waters. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced what it calls an "emergency response" focused on the Florida Keys starting next week. A NOAA news release...

Saving Coral Reefs Could Involve a Little Sound Trickery

Coral larvae settle more often in damaged areas when sounds of healthy reef are played: study

(Newser) - Young people don't want to grow up in degraded neighborhoods devoid of the life and color that mark a healthy ecosystem. And surprise, surprise, the same goes for young coral. That's a problem because, without new life coming in, established but ailing coral reefs risk "becoming ocean...

Beached Sperm Whale Off Florida Couldn't Be Saved

The 44-foot male appeared underweight

(Newser) - A sperm whale that became famous after beaching itself on a sandbar along Florida's Gulf Coast died Monday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a statement. As the AP reports, police and wildlife officials began trying to free the male whale from the shallow sandbar off...

This Florida Park Just Welcomed Nearly 1K Manatees

Florida's Blue Spring State Park saw record 932 sea cows huddle together for warmth on Jan. 21

(Newser) - When Florida's waters cool down in the winter, its resident manatees huddle together for warmth—this year, in record numbers. On Jan. 21, Volusia County's Blue Spring State Park, which NPR dubs "one of the largest winter gathering sites for manatees" in the Sunshine State, witnessed a...

Footage Points to the 'Holy Grail of Shark Science'

Scientists describe what is believed to be the first sighting of a newborn great white

(Newser) - Scientists have spotted juvenile great white sharks, but never before had they caught a glimpse of a newborn. That reportedly changed this past July when a drone captured a 5-foot-long pup, apparently still covered with its embryonic layer. There's some doubt given the novelty of the situation, but the...

For Green Sea Turtles, a Big Problem: Too Many Girls
Pollution Has Unexpected
Effect on Green Sea Turtles
new study
Nov 27, 2023 11:48 AM CST

Pollution Has Unexpected Effect on Green Sea Turtles

Researchers say it's helping create too many females

(Newser) - For male green sea turtles, it's the second part of a double whammy they could ill afford. A new study suggests that ocean pollution is contributing to a serious gender imbalance—way too many females are being born and way too few males, reports Science Alert . As the Washington ...

Jellyfish Suggest Deep-Sea Mining Could Be a Problem
Is Jellyfish Mucus a
Warning Sign of Sorts?
discoveries
Nov 22, 2023 11:23 AM CST

Is Jellyfish Mucus a Warning Sign of Sorts?

Experiment suggests deep-sea mining could potentially hurt the creatures

(Newser) - The rush to find the minerals needed to power our batteries and other electronics has mining companies looking to the seafloor—but at what potential cost to the marine life that lives above it? A study published Tuesday in Nature Communications aimed to answer that question using jellyfish, and as...

Starfish 'Arms' Are Really Something Else Entirely

Scientists say the 5 appendages are 'more like extensions of the head'

(Newser) - If you ever end up on Jeopardy! and your clue is "This star-shaped marine creature has five arms," you may want to pause before you offer what seems like the obvious answer. That's because those appendages you see sticking out from the bodies of starfish aren't...

When Seattle Phones Ping, It's a Sign Whales Are Near

The AP looks at a popular WhatsApp chat group that alerts members to sightings

(Newser) - Peter Bates was dropping his car at the mechanic this month when a notification pinged on his phone: Killer whales were approaching his Seattle neighborhood. He hopped on a bus toward the water, then an electric bike. He was pedaling along a shoreline trail when orcas' black fins and white...

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