Author: Emmett Duffy
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Holy Mackerel!
[. . . I’m tempted to add “Batman!”, but that would really show my age.] Where on earth do such expressions come from? I can’t answer that, but at least we can now sleuth out the evolution of the word mackerel itself, thanks to some crack detective work by Jim Gleick in his new book…
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Competition for krill links a rebounding ecosystem to penguin declines
At the far bottom of the earth, at the bitter end of the Pacific Ocean, lies the Ross Sea, home to a large proportion of the world’s penguins. Although it’s often considered the last intact marine ecosystem on earth, it appears there is no escape here, nor anywhere else, from the invisible miasma of CO2…
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Whales converge on the Big Apple
At least seven species of whales — including the rare and endangered Atlantic Right Whale and the world’s largest animal, the Blue Whale — have been recorded singing at an “open mike night” (actually many days and nights) in the waters of New York harbor and Long Island Sound by researchers from Cornell University’s Bioacoustics…
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Sea squirts and the secret to eternal life
[A guest post written primarily by my PhD student Jonathan Lefcheck] Have you ever dreamed of living forever? Since the dawn of time people have sought in vain for the fountain of youth. The latest clue to its whereabouts comes from an unlikely source – our closest relative among the invertebrates, the sea squirt. A…
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Causing explosions crustaceanologically
Marine biologists generally aim to publish research in fancy-pants journals read by other science geeks. And that’s all good. But what a thrill to see our favorite critters — from bone-eating worms to eviscerating sea cucumbers to narwhals — in a book of poetry! I’ve just received this wonderful new book of poems for all…
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Ocean friendly seafood? There’s an app (or two) for that.
So you’re out on a date at your favorite little romantic seafood bistro, looking at the menu with whatever sanitized name the marketers have just invented for Patagonian toothfish or slimefish or whatever. With all the conflicting information out there, how does the average civilian choose what to order without pillaging the ocean? Fortunately, technology…
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2011 underwater photo contest winners
Presenting the winner (best overall) of the University of Miami’s RSMAS 2011 Underwater Photography contest. Shown are two tiny gobies (Bryaninops natans), representatives of the family that contains some of the smallest vertebrates on earth (although the grand prize for smallest on earth goes to Paedocypris progenetica, a minute relative of carp, measuring less than…
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Smile! It’s a beautiful day on the reef.
No it’s not the Joker, nor one of the Insane Clown Posse. This is the actual face of a real live parrotfish, up close and personal. These abundant herbivores use their toothy beak to munch algae from the reef, thus keeping the substrate clean for baby corals to get a foothold, but also eroding the…
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Social shrimp: Discovery of new species and a new family tree
Of all the wondrous creatures of the sea, only a small handful of inconspicuous shrimps have risen to the pinnacle of social life shared by the ants and honeybees with their large, organized, and cooperative colonies, the condition known as “eusociality”. Because of their retiring habits—making their homes in tunnels within living sponges—and the devilish…
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Unhappy Birthday to Deepwater Horizon
One year ago today we woke up to one of the worst environmental disasters in American history. Eleven people and countless animals dead, five million barrels of crude released, and the potential long-term transformation of the ocean on a regional scale. Only time will reveal the full consequences of the event but the picture is…