Hoff Crab + Tattoo = Awesomsauce
Hoff Crab + Tattoo = Awesomsauce avatar

Remember the Hoff Crab?  You bet your bippy you do.  You can thank Nicolai Roterman for that.  Nicolai, a hydrothermal vent biologist and a member of the expedition that found this hairy crab, coined the name Hoff Crab while still on board. To commemorate this very special event Nicolai’s sister watercolored the specimen caught on the SW . . . → Read More: Hoff Crab + Tattoo = Awesomsauce

Hoff Crab + Tattoo = Awesomsauce avatar

The Sea We’ve Hardly Seen
The Sea We’ve Hardly Seen avatar

I am admittedly a huge invertebrate nerd. But there’s a lot more going on in the ocean than can be caught with a plankton net. For this week’s TGIF, check out super awesome Scripps alumna and MIT post-doc Melissa Garren on the glory and the mystery oceanic microbes. Broadcast Spawn!Tweet#call_to_action h4{padding:0px 5px;}I am admittedly a huge invertebrate nerd. But there’s a lot more going on in the ocean than can be caught with a plankton net. For this week’s TGIF, check…

Microbiology at Sea: A tale of ballast, vomit, and cockroaches
Microbiology at Sea: A tale of ballast, vomit, and cockroaches avatar

California has been a big transition for me. I mean big. Not only am I now living in the sun-drenched utopia I have long pined for (a climate which finally meets my minimum temperature preference of 90F), but I also have leaped into to an entirely new scientific world. I think I’m becoming a microbiologist. . . . → Read More: Microbiology at Sea: A tale of ballast, vomit, and cockroaches

Microbiology at Sea: A tale of ballast, vomit, and cockroaches avatar

Better and New Video of the Enigmatic Placental Jellyfish
Better and New Video of the Enigmatic Placental Jellyfish avatar

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) has just posted better footage of Deepstaria, The scyphomedusa Deepstaria is certainly odd, with its bag-like appearance, and bell that can open more than a meter wide. Speculation on the identity of a mystery blob of has become a YouTube sensation, sparking heated and entertaining debates over . . . → Read More: Better and New Video of the Enigmatic Placental Jellyfish

Better and New Video of the Enigmatic Placental Jellyfish avatar

Lazy Harp Seal Has No Job
Lazy Harp Seal Has No Job avatar

Happy Sunday, everyone. Music by Parry Gripp,  via Metafilter. Broadcast Spawn!Tweet#call_to_action h4{padding:0px 5px;}Happy Sunday, everyone. Music by Parry Gripp,  via Metafilter. Broadcast Spawn!Tweet

These Arms Were Made For Walking
These Arms Were Made For Walking avatar

Unlike their Echinoderm brethren, brittle stars do not move along on tube feet that can propel them in any direction.  Instead, brittle stars ‘walk’.  This mode of movement by brittle stars is even more astonishing when it is considered that brittle stars, like all echinoderms, are not bilaterally symmetrical, i.e mirror imaged halves.  All echinoderms . . . → Read More: These Arms Were Made For Walking

These Arms Were Made For Walking avatar

Solving the Mystery of the Placental Jellyfish
Solving the Mystery of the Placental Jellyfish avatar

Yesterday the DSN crew first saw the video above.  What is this large floating sheet of goo?  Is it alive? Was it once alive? The two leading contenders seems to be that it is A) an old whale placenta or B) a rare and enigmatic deep-sea jellyfish.  And the answer is…. B) A) So why is . . . → Read More: Solving the Mystery of the Placental Jellyfish

Solving the Mystery of the Placental Jellyfish avatar

What is Peru’s dolphin and pelican die-off telling us?
What is Peru’s dolphin and pelican die-off telling us? avatar

Dead pelicans on the beach in Peru. Img: The Guardian As many as 900 dolphins and over 4,000 pelicans have washed up dead on the beaches of northern Peru in the last couple of months, (see news coverage here, here and here), leading to a flurry of activity as various authorities and other interested parties . . . → Read More: What is Peru’s dolphin and pelican die-off telling us?

What is Peru’s dolphin and pelican die-off telling us? avatar

Finding Endangered Life on eBay
Finding Endangered Life on eBay avatar

eBay’s history is dotted with carcasses of endangered and vulnerable species.  In 2000, the Sea Turtle Conservancy announced that a large selection of illegal hawksbill turtle shell products were available on the online auction site. “On Jan. 6, about about 50 genuine tortoise shell items were listed for sale through ebay, said Gary Appelson, advocacy . . . → Read More: Finding Endangered Life on eBay

Finding Endangered Life on eBay avatar

TGIF: One does not simply walk into the lower intertidal
TGIF: One does not simply walk into the lower intertidal avatar

The always epic Alex Warneke (a.k.a. A-Pain) made us a little nerd-gift based on the gull-vs-octopus battle. Happy Friday! Broadcast Spawn!Tweet#call_to_action h4{padding:0px 5px;}The always epic Alex Warneke (a.k.a. A-Pain) made us a little nerd-gift based on the gull-vs-octopus battle. Happy Friday! Broadcast Spawn!Tweet