Mesmerizing Sea Life

A sperm whale that died of natural causes has become a flourishing habitat for marine life after sinking to the ocean floor off the coast of California a decade ago. The whale's decomposing body has become an abundant source of food for various marine creatures such as fish, crabs, and other invertebrates. The whale's skeletal remains have evolved into a stable ecosystem in an otherwise dynamic ocean environment. Moreover, the whale's death and decomposition have produced a distinctive ecosystem. Various bacteria and microbes residing in the whale's body have played an essential role in breaking down its tissue. As a result, these microbes have contributed to the ocean's food chain and recycled nutrients back into the water. Scientists have also found great value in studying the whale's bones, which provides insight into its life and death. This research has enabled scientists to understand better the ocean's ecosystem and whales' role in it. The dead wh...

In 2001, a humpback whale was cut by a boat propeller in Sydney, Australia. The 30-centimeter-deep scars are still visible along her side today, but this whale has defied the odds and survived. She is known as Blade Runner. Blade Runner was first seen in the waters off Sydney in 2001. She was swimming with her calf when she was struck by a boat propeller. The impact was so severe that it caused her to bleed profusely. She was also left with a number of deep scars, including one that runs the entire length of her side. Despite her injuries, Blade Runner survived. She was able to swim away and rejoin her pod. In the years since, she has been seen repeatedly in the waters off Sydney and New South Wales. She has even been spotted as far away as Tasmania. Blade Runner's story has also helped to raise awareness of the dangers that whales face from boat strikes. Each year, hundreds of whales are injured or killed by boats. Blade Runner is a reminder of the importance of taking steps to pr...

Hey there, I'm Mounika and I'm here to talk about the most magical and engaging place Georgia aquarium  No matter your age, everyone is a kid at Georgia Aquarium . Home to the most amazing aquatic animals, including beluga whales, whale sharks, manta rays, penguins, sea otters, dolphins and many more. Whether it may be dolphin show or sea lion presentation or entering the zone of Predators of the Deep, everything is amazing at Georgia aquarium. Filled with 11 millions gallons of water in seven permanent galleries making home to over 100,000 animals.  The Georgia Aquarium is divided into 7 sections: Coldwater Quest, Ocean Voyager, Tropical Diver, Georgia Explorer, River Scout, Predators of the Deep and Dolphin Tales. Ocean Voyager is the largest exhibit with 100-foot underwater tunnels and one of the largest viewing windows.  There's so much to see in Georgia Aquarium. I spent half a day roaming and getting mesmerized by the amazing creatures. Located in Downtown Atlanta a...

A research expedition to explore deepest-sea creatures led to the discovery of the deepest fish ever filmed. In August 2022, a two-month expedition to the deep trenches around Japan in the north Pacific Ocean undertook by the research ship DSSV Pressure Drop.  As part of a 10-year study into the deepest fish populations in the world, the mission was to explore the Japan, Ryukyu and Izu-Ogasawara trenches at 8,000m, 9,300m and 7,300m deep respectively. Founder of the Minderoo-UWA Deep Sea Research Centre and chief scientist of the expedition, UWA Professor Alan Jamieson, worked with a team from the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology to deploy baited cameras in the deepest parts of the trenches. At a depth of 8,336m in the Izu-Ogasawara Trench, south of Japan, the team managed to film the deepest record of a fish, the unknown snailfish species of the genus Pseudoliparis.  A few days later, the team collected two fish in traps from 8,022m deep in the Japan Trench. ...

Did the first whales pick up where the mosasaurs left off when 66 million years ago all the large marine predators became extinct? The University of Liège's EDDyLab (Belgium) developed this research to investigate whether there were morphological and behavioral convergences between whales and mosasaurs which was published in Paleobiology. We are familiar with modern whales and dolphins, but the extinct predecessors of these modern marine animals closely resembled ancient aquatic animals, especially the mosasaurs, a group closely related to snakes and lizards. "Superficial similarities have long been noted, but the idea that these two groups might be functionally similar has never been rigorously tested," explains Rebecca Bennion, a doctoral student at ULiège's EDDyLab and first author of the study. The research, which has just been published in the journal Paleobiology and was carried out by an international team of scientists based in Europe, the USA, and New Zealan...

Countless marine animals rely on noise to survive, for e.g: to detect predators, for echolocation, and as a means of communication with the co-species. In recent decades, the sounds caused by human activities are affecting marine species, especially the sounds emitted by cargo ships, loud explosions, and seismic surveys. A study by the Alfred-Wegener institute showcases that the sounds may impact the functioning of the ocean floor. Invertebrates such as mussels, crustaceans, and worms(referred to as ecosystem engineers) frequently sediment the area they live in by burrowing, feeding, aerating, and fertilizing with their excreta. These activities play a vital role in the nutrient cycle in the ocean, allowing more carbon from the dead organic material to be stored on the sea floor and nutrients to be recycled.  Sound can travel long distances underwater, sometimes hundreds and even thousands of kilometers whereas light can travel only tens of meters.  A research team from the Al...

Natural History Museum unlocked 30 new species living at the bottom of the sea. Using a remotely operated vehicle collected specimens from the abyssal plains of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the Central Pacific. Previously, creatures from this area had been studied only through photographs.  What surprises is out of 55 specimens recovered, 48 of them were new. The animals include segmented worms, invertebrates from the same family as centipedes, marine animals from the same family as jellyfish, and different types of coral. 17 were found at between 3,095 and 3,562 meters deep, two were collected on a seamount slope at 4,125 meters, and Thirty-six specimens were found at more than 4,800 meters deep. Dr. Guadalupe Bribiesca-Contreras, of the Natural History Museum, the study’s lead author said “the research is important not only due to the number of potentially new species discovered but because these megafauna specimens have previously only been studied from seabed images and added...