Over the past decade, the fast-growing seaweed Caulerpa prolifera has taken over seagrass in Florida’s Indian River Lagoon. While this seaweed provides some habitat, it supports fewer marine species than the original seagrass, signaling a decline in biodiversity. Now, scientists are closely monitoring an unexpected player: small, green sap-sucking sea slugs that feed on C. prolifera and have surged in number. Their presence is prompting new questions about habitat loss, potential pathways for ecosystem recovery, and the uncertain future of marine life in a seagrass-depleted environment.

New research from the University of Georgia’s Odum School of Ecology and Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant suggests there may be elevated levels of mercury in Georgia and South Carolina waters.

There are about 1,350 known ribbon worm species, but scientists estimate this is only about 10% of what's really out there. A new study emphasizes this point emphasized with the discovery of over 100 ribbon worm species off the coast of Oman, most of which are new to science.

OXFORD, Miss. – Sea cucumbers are the ocean's janitors, cleaning the seabed and recycling nutrients back into the water. But this humble marine invertebrate could also hold the key to stopping the spread of cancer.

Toothed whales use sound to find their way around, detect objects, and catch fish. They can investigate their environment by making clicking sounds, and then decoding the “echoic return signal” created when the clicking sounds bounce off objects and return to their ears. This "biosonar," called echolocation, is rare in the animal kingdom. Now, a new study by researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, New College of Florida, UC Berkeley, and Oxford University, and published in PLOS ONE, brings us closer to understanding how dolphin brains have evolved to support echolocation.

This year marks the opening of the United Nations Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences, an international initiative focused on the rapid changes occurring in glaciers, snow cover, ice sheets, sea ice, and permafrost and their impacts on the planet. MBARI’s advanced technology will play a critical role in this effort, providing important data about the Arctic seafloor and the Southern Ocean. MBARI research is answering fundamental questions about polar environments and other components of the cryosphere. This information can help resource managers and policymakers make decisions about the future of this important ecosystem.

As decreasing sea ice allows ships to enter previously inaccessible regions, cruise ships and other vessels are now advancing into the most remote waters. When anchors are dropped, seafloor marine life is impacted. In the Antarctic Peninsula, ocean scientists have recorded crushed sponge colonies, disturbed soft sediment, and striations caused by anchor chain movement for the first time. Recognizing anchor damage as a pressing conservation issue is critically important to protect ocean life and develop mitigation strategies, the team said. 

Research by Edith Cowan University (ECU) and the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) has put a spotlight on the feeding frenzy that newly hatched turtles face. Trapped and gripped by the neck, decapitations, and feeding on severed heads. These nightmarish visions are a grim reality for loggerhead turtle hatchlings.