A 12-foot hammerhead shark, an undersea canyon that suddenly plunges 900 feet and an enormous orange-and-brown barrel sponge are only a few things in an unexplored Puerto Rican reef that U.S. scientists are using sonar and submersibles to explore. “You could actually live in that thing it was so big,” said Tim Battista, the expedition’s [...]
A deep-sea coral expert from the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science was one of many scientists from NOAA, academia, and industry invited by the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research to participate in the first deep-sea coral habitat mission broadcast live from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. Throughout March and April 2012, scientists [...]
In less than a decade, lionfish have become widely established across the Southeast U.S. and Caribbean. Recent estimates indicate that lionfish have surpassed some native species with the highest estimates reporting hundreds per acre in some locations. In today’s Diving Deeper, we explore invasive lionfish with James Morris from the National Centers for Coastal Ocean [...]
Staff from the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science traveled to St. Thomas, USVI from March 26th-29th to meet with local partners as part of a collaborative effort to provide a baseline characterization of living marine resources and chemical contamination in biota within the St. Thomas East End Reserve (STEER). Data collected as part of [...]
The fish that once seemed untouchable with its defensive spines, has now proven conquerable, quickly whipped up into a delicious dish, the lionfish could easily become the seafood of choice for many a discerning palate. via Lionfish Fast Becoming the Caribbean’s New Delicacy - Jamaica Information Service.
This has been quite an interesting expedition so far, not only because of what we’re exploring here in the DeSoto Canyon in the deep Gulf of Mexico, but also because of the way we’re exploring it. Along with many others, scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science in Charleston, SC are participating remotely [...]
HABSCS-2012 convenes in Macau on 29 March and Pat Tester has been invited to give a plenary talk entitled “The Accidental Taxonomists and the Resurgence of Gambierdiscus Research”. Gambierdiscus is the dinoflagellate genus identified most closely with the production of ciguatoxins and the symptoms of ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP). While CFP has not had the attention or visibility [...]
On March 20, 2012, NOAA and New York’s Department of State jointly announced the release of A Biogeographic Assessment of Seabirds, Deep Sea Corals and Ocean Habitats of the New York Bight. The 2-year study, led by scientists at NCCOS and New York’s Department of State Ocean and Great Lakes Program, will advance New York’s management of its [...]