Free Republic

The Biden administration’s National Science Foundation (NSF) is dumping more than $2 million in taxpayer funds to back efforts aimed at diversifying marine biology and climate science, deriding the fields as “some of the least diverse STEM disciplines.” The NSF, which controls $9.9 billion of federal money and exists to “promote the progress of science,” “advance the national health,” and “secure the national defense,” is backing four different universities engaged in the study aimed at diversifying the two scientific disciplines. “The program supports research and practice projects that investigate how considerations of racial equity factor into the improvement of science,...

A Chaunax, a genus of bony fish in the sea toad family Chaunacidae, is seen at a depth of 1,388 meters (4,553 feet) on a seamount inside the Nazca-Desventuradas Marine Park. Image credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ More than 100 new species have been discovered on an underwater mountain range off the coast of Chile. Among the never-before-seen critters seen on the expedition are corals, glass sponges, sea urchins, amphipods, lobsters, plus a gaggle of peculiar fish and squid that are already known to science (but no less strange). The discoveries come from an international group of scientists who recently...

There’s a new type of killer whale that prowls deeper waters and specializes in hunting big game, new research by a B.C. scientist suggests. ...But evidence indicates there’s a newly identified type of orca — outer coast killer whales — that are a distinct subgroup of transient whales, and which frequent the ocean depths along the continental shelf off the coast of central California and Oregon, said lead author Josh McInnes, a scientist with the Marine Mammal Research Unit at the University of British Columbia. Once believed to be part of the larger West Coast population, these outer coast killer...

——Why We Wrote This—— How to counter invasive species, a common, and often intractable, problem? One entrepreneur’s clever approach offers lessons in finding solutions in the unlikeliest of places. If you can’t beat them, eat them. That is the common wisdom of many scientists, conservationists, and fishermen who dream of ridding the western Atlantic of invasive lionfish, a stunning aquarium fish that, when introduced in the wild, dominates and destroys reef ecosystems. However, catching lionfish has never been simple; they are not easily targeted by line or net fishing. Now, a surprising new invention may bring lionfish hunting to the...

According to scientists, a creature similar to H.P. Lovecraft's fictional and monstrous sea beast, Cthulhu, did exist at one point — the only difference is it was about 3 cm wide. In a computer-generated model created from a 430 million-year-old fossil, scientists say they've identified a never-before-seen species of sea cucumber which they aptly dubbed, Sollasina cthulhu, after the iconic monster monster feature in H.P. Lovecraft's 'Call of Cthulhu'.

When Octavius, a female common octopus at the University of Georgia’s Marine Education Center and Aquarium, went into hiding for roughly a month, officials at the aquatic center were baffled. Normally a present creature, Octavius would greet visitors by sticking her tentacles on the inside of her tank. But in recent weeks, the sea animal — formally known as an Octopus vulgaris — spent more time hiding in a rock cave inside her tank, the Savannah Morning News reported. Early last week, officials finally figured out why: Octavius was pregnant and eventually laid her eggs, which hatched into “tens of thousands” of...

A rare deep-sea creature dubbed the 'headless chicken monster' has been filmed for the first time by Australian researchers. The elusive Enypniastes eximia sea cucumber, which is usually only found in the Gulf of Mexico, was spotted in the Southern Ocean in the East Antarctic using camera technology developed by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD). 'Some of the footage we are getting back from the cameras is breathtaking, including species we have never seen in this part of the world,' AAD Program leader Dr Dirk Welsford said.

Marine biologists from the California Academy of Sciences have discovered a new species of coral reef fish living in the waters off Saint Paul’s Rocks, an archipelago of small islets located around 580 miles (940 km) from northeastern Brazil The new species, named Tosanoides aphrodite, belongs to a small genus of coral reef fish in the family Serranidae.Adult Tosanoides aphrodite measure between 2 and 3.1 inches (5-8 cm) in length.Males are outfitted with alternating pink and yellow stripes while females sport a solid, blood-orange color.“This is one of the most beautiful fishes I’ve ever seen,” said team member Dr....

Researchers from Monterey bay Aquarium and Stanford University discovered an area the size of Colorado between California and Hawaii that appears to be a “White Shark Café,” but it is unclear if the sharks are there for food or sex. The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Monday that authorities are trying to determine why these sharks spend months on an annual pilgrimage in winter and spring to the deep sea. Scientists say that it appears the sharks are out there to feast on the abundant amount of squid and small fish in the region. “They are telling us this incredible...

A band of beluga whales took in a lost narwhal and made it one of their own, researchers said after discovering the lone whale swimming and playing with its new friends. The narwhal was discovered in the St. Lawrence River, more than 620 miles from its normal habitat, swimming with about dozen of St. Lawrence River belugas. Narwhals normally live in the Arctic near Canada, Greenland, Russia and Norway, CBC News reported. GREMM said the narwhal was believed to be a juvenile, swimming with mostly male belugas. "It behaves like it was one of the boys," Robert Michaud, the president...

The Neon Tetra, Paracheirodon innesi, can be found in every aquarium store in the world. It enables thousands of people to earn a living, either because they breed it or because they sell it. It epitomizes much of what makes the aquarium hobby one of the finest pastimes in the world: it is colorful, peaceful, interesting, and reflects the lively nature of the underwater world. But commonplace though the Neon Tetra may be nowadays, it wasn’t always so by a long chalk… If you want to go to Iquitos in Peru nowadays, you simply get on a plane and are...

Kristen Porter was relaxing on a floatie at Kuhio Beach in Waikiki, Hawaii last week when she felt something sharp pierce her foot. Wincing in pain, Porter pulled her foot out of the water and saw a terrifying sight. "I knew immediately that it was something bad, and it wasn't just like a fish nibble, so I pulled my foot into the air and there was blood everywhere," Porter, of Annapolis, Maryland, told KHON-TV on Thursday. With help from her son and fellow beachgoers, Porter hobbled to shore to examine the mysterious wound. Once on land, a lifeguard observed several...

Hawaii is set to become the first state to ban the sale of sunscreens containing chemicals believed to be harmful to the environment. State lawmakers passed a bill Tuesday that prohibits the sale and distribution of over-the-counter sunscreens containing oxybenzone or octinoxate, two chemicals that have been found to "cause genetic damage to coral and other marine organisms." "These chemicals have also been shown to degrade corals' resiliency and ability to adjust to climate change factors and inhibit recruitment of new corals," the bill reads. The contamination is "constantly refreshed and renewed everyday" by swimmers and beachgoers, according to the...

Aerial photos have captured odd gatherings of almost 1,400 basking sharks and researchers aren't totally sure what it is the animals are up to. It’s not uncommon to see the sharks individually, but seeing them in large groups is rare. It’s still unclear why the animals are coming together, but researchers suggest they are likely gathering in the waters from Long Island to Nova Scotia to grab a bite, according to recent findings published in the Journal of Fish Biology. The scientists studied aerial photos taken between June 1980 and November 2013 and found 10 large groups of the sharks...

Scientists were appalled to find 64 pounds of garbage and plastic -- including bags, ropes, nets and even a drum -- inside the stomach of a young sperm whale that recently washed up on a beach in Spain. The 6-ton, 33-foot-long creature was discovered near a lighthouse in Cabo de Palos in the region of Murcia on Feb. 27, the regional government said in a statement last week. A necropsy revealed it was killed by "gastric shock" to its stomach and intestines after ingesting the trash, marine experts told The Telegraph. "Experts found the inner walls of the whale's abdomen...

This weaned baby seal appears to have crossed the wrong mammal, as the defenceless pup gets crushed by its giant relative. The male deliberately chased, then lay on the weaner, who struggled and squealed before wriggling free - apparently uninjured. Baby seals are abandoned by their mothers after the weaning period who head back to sea to feed.

Alarmist scientists have found a terrifying new ‘ climate change’ threat: mutant transgender turtles. Their study, titled Environmental Warming and Feminization of One of the Largest Sea Turtle Populations in the World, warns that global warming could turn the world’s sea turtle populations female, possibly leading to their extinction. The study authors, from NOAA’s Marine Mammal and Turtle division in La Jolla, California, analyzed sea turtle populations on beaches at the northern and southern ends of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife isn't dedicating any funding toward determining the cause, says resources are needed elsewhereAs many as 2,000 leopard sharks have mysteriously died in the San Francisco Bay over the past few months. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife says determining the cause is not a priority for the state since the sharks are not threatened or endangered, however, scientists say additional research and resources are crucial since the threat is now believed to be preying on other marine life. “This year is unusual in that there has been a large number of other...

The anti-whaling organisation Sea Shepherd will not contest the Southern Ocean against Japanese whalers this season, Captain Paul Watson has announced, accusing “hostile governments” in the US, Australia and New Zealand of acting “in league with Japan” against the protest vessel. Sea Shepherd has been obstructing Japanese whaling vessels in the Southern Ocean each year since 2005, but Watson said the cost of sending vessels south, Japan’s increased use of military technology to track them, and new anti-terrorism laws passed specifically to thwart Sea Shepherd’s activities made physically tracking the ships impossible.

Ten people in Alaska were recently infected with what is now a relatively rare parasitic worm that they got from eating walrus meat, according to a new report.