Life Below
The Rainbow on a Comb Jelly Is Not the Same as Making Light
A moving ribbon of rainbow colour can make a comb jelly look electrically illuminated. Before calling every bright marine display bioluminescence, ask…
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Coastal Connections
Sea Ice Can Lose Salt Without the Ice Simply Disappearing
Freezing seawater does not turn the ocean into a uniform block with salt distributed everywhere in the same way. Ice crystals and the salty liquid between…
Life Below
Coral Spawning Moves Part of the Reef’s Story into Open Water
A coral colony appears firmly attached to the reef, but some stages of coral reproduction take place away from that fixed setting. Broadcast spawning is one…
Coastal Connections
What a Hydrophone Records—and What the Recording Still Needs Explained
An underwater recording can reveal activity beyond the camera’s view. To interpret it, however, you need more than an interesting sound and a confident…
Life Below
Underwater Light Can Help an Animal Become Harder to See
Making light sounds like a reliable way to attract attention. In the ocean, the relationship can be more surprising: light produced beneath an animal can…
Life Below
A Whale Fall Is a Food Arrival with a Long Afterlife
The death of a whale can connect life near the surface with communities far below it. If the carcass reaches the seabed, it becomes a concentrated arrival…
Life Below
A Sponge Can Be an Animal Without Looking Like One in Motion
A branching shape attached to the seabed may look plant-like in a photograph. Appearance alone is a poor guide to the way an organism lives, and marine…
Coastal Connections
Ocean Oxygen Production and Oxygen Left Over Are Different Quantities
A headline about the ocean producing oxygen can sound as though every bit of that production simply accumulates in the atmosphere. Marine life also uses…