Marine Biology

The mystery of flight MAF370, which vanished over the Indian Ocean with all hands, has baffled the world for nine years, but now a geoscientist at the University of South Florida may have found a surprising way to locate the wreck using barnacles.

A study has found that glitter negatively affects the growth of cyanobacteria, an important player in aquatic ecosystems and a key component of marine food webs, highlighting the importance of reining in the use of this stealthy microplastic.

The blue whale has long been considered the largest animal to have ever existed, even dwarfing the biggest known dinosaurs. But now a new species threatens to steal the crown, and upends what we thought we knew about whale evolution.

The matriarchal structure of the killer whale society is well known, with females living up to 90 years and playing a crucial role in passing on knowledge to the youngsters. Now, it seems the elders also help keep the trouble-making boys out of fights.

In a world first, researchers have successfully reared cone snails in a laboratory aquarium, gaining rare insight into juveniles with different venom and unlocking the power of their complex conotoxin compounds for a vast range of human therapeutics.

Scientists have speculated about the cognitive and dreaming abilities of the octopus. This study is a step closer in understanding their complex behavior. As does a study on cuttlefish from the same team, showing their color shifting like never before.

Scientists have used fossilized megalodon teeth to estimate the ancient shark’s body temperature, and found it wasn’t exactly a cold-blooded killer. Strangely enough, that might have contributed to its downfall.

With evolution there’s always a trade-off – long necks may help you find food but they’re also a massive weak spot. Now, paleontologists have found direct fossil evidence of prehistoric, long-necked marine reptiles being decapitated by predators.

Paleontologists have discovered fossils from a gigantic marine predator that stalked the Jurassic seas. The creature could have grown to twice the size of an orca, and fed on pretty much anything else unlucky enough to be in the ocean at that time.

In a surprising first, researchers found that scalloped hammerhead sharks act like air-breathing marine mammals, holding their breath to stay warm when they deep-dive into cold water for food and making them vulnerable to humanity's deep-sea exploits.

In 1986 it got up close to the Titanic, and now deep-sea explorer Alvin is achieving more world firsts, this time documenting 1.2 miles of new reef featuring live coral that's thousands of years old. Scientists hope it's the first of many to be found.

Scientists have discovered that the feces of coral-biting fish is brimming with beneficial symbionts. If scientists could get stressed-out coral to take them on board, essentially a 'poop transplant,' it may help reverse some forms of coral bleaching.