Like most deep-sea biologists, I have a large collection of decorated Styrofoam cups. A couple dozen line the bookshelf of my office, each displaying a…
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Category: Habitats
A Journey to the Hottest Place on Earth: Hydrothermal Vents and the Resilient Pompeii Worm
I have only seen a hydrothermal vent once, during Dive 73 aboard the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute’s Doc Ricketts. Unlike many deep-sea biologists, I…
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Surviving Toxic Havens
The ROV Global Explorer reaches bottom at around 9:01 am, nearly 3.5 kilometers deep in the Gulf of Mexico. The 1.5-ton machine flies nimbly through…
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The Cost of Fear: How Perceptions of the Deep Sea Hurt Conservation
Guest post by Dr. Melissa Betters Are you afraid of the deep, dark ocean? If so, you’re not alone. Thalassophobia (fear of deep water) seems…
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Introducing a New Species: My Namesake, a New Bone-Eating Worm
Osedax worms, or the ‘bone eating’ worms are little soft sacks resembling snotty little flowers. The “bone devourer” is not quite accurate as the worms…
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Hump Day Happiness: Dive into Deep-Sea Delights
You know what your hump day needs? Some absolute stunning photos of deep-sea animals. Look at this one. Look at that one. You gotta get…
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The Many Clawed, Blind Lobsters of the Deep
In the profound darkness of the ocean’s depths, organisms face a choice concerning their visual capabilities. Some species evolve specialized eyes that grow to astonishing…
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Seamounts of the Southeast Pacific
Schmidt Ocean has posted new 4K video of a suite of amazing organisms from seamounts of the coast of Chile. I, however, strongly feel the…
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Flatworm cocoons in the abyss
Flatworms, also known as Platyhelminthes, constitute a phylum of about 20,000 species of rather uncomplicated invertebrates characterized by their soft bodies and lack of segmentation.…
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Parasitism at Hydrothermal Vents
A post in a nightmare fueled lifestyle in a nightmarish hell scape…or a nice story of parasitic nematodes find in fishes at hydrothermal vents over…
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