For thousands of years — perhaps hundreds of thousands — a sizable coral reef has stretched across the seafloor in the Atlantic Ocean, near the southeastern part of the U.S. And its existence remained a well-hidden secret until a recent deep-sea expedition brought the thriving ecosystem to light. Scientists on board the research vessel (RV) …
he Great Barrier Reef is Australia’s natural treasure, one of the seven natural wonders of the world, and the largest living structure on the planet. Sprawling at 344,000 square kilometers, the ecosystem is composed of 3,000 individual reef system and houses a variety of marine plants and animals including 4,000 species of mollusks, 1,500 species …
Microsoft agrees with Sebastian the crab from The Little Mermaid. It’s better down where it’s wetter. The company’s new undersea data center off the coast of Scotland includes a couple of underwater cameras that give web viewers a glimpse of the subsurface environs. “We installed two video cameras on the outside of the pressure vessel to observe environmental conditions near our …
Coral reef slope with damselfish and shark in background at ChesterfieldBASTIEN PREUSS On the northeast side of Australia sits the archipelago of New Caledonia, a French territory in the southwest Pacific Ocean. Originally occupied by the Lapita people, the area was re-christened New Caledonia by Captain James Cook based on its resemblance to parts of Scotland. After …
Swimming with a whale shark – the ocean’s largest fish is something that seems to be on many diver’s bucket lists. These animals can reach up to lengths of over forty feet/twelve meters, and weigh over 41,000 pounds, so getting up close and personal with just one of these gentle giants is something truly humbling. …
Scott Portelli leads photography expeditions in the Polynesian kingdom of Tonga, where humpback whales gather seasonally to nurse their young and mate. The calves, or babies, are sometimes playful, and on Wednesday Portelli shared an image on Facebook showing a calf leaping clear of the water as Portelli’s free-diving clients watched in amazement. Baby humpback whale breaches off Tonga. Photo: …
An Ocean Quest Adventure guest close-up with a Humpback WhaleDEBBIE STANLEY, OCEAN QUEST ADVENTURES One of my greatest adventures has been snorkeling with humpback whales in Newfoundland, Canada, one of the few places in the world where visitors have the opportunity to swim with these Leviathans. Humpbacks lack any fear around boats, so the chances …
Two minutes and 12 seconds. That’s how long my spearfishing partner had been underwater on one breath. I last saw him descending past 100 feet, toward the 125-foot bottom. I floated on the surface, ostensibly as his safety diver, more realistically just praying that he would ascend out of the abyss. Soon. With each passing …
Thanks to its historic isolation, Madagascar has long been famed for its unique wildlife, ranging from lemurs and rare chameleons to exotic birds and the carnivorous, cat-like fossa. But now a new study published in the journal Endangered Species Research has revealed that the island nation is also a hotspot for whale sharks (the world’s largest fish). …
New research led by University of Otago scientists indicates there is growing evidence that whale and dolphin-watching activities can adversely affect the marine mammals. The study “Behavioural responses of spinner dolphins to human interactions” was published recently by the journal Royal Society Open Science. The research focused on populations of spinner dolphins off the coast …
