Tag Archives: Fish and Other Marine Life

The elusive oarfish, a creature nicknamed the “doomsday fish” because of its place in folklore as a precursor to disaster, was captured on video this month after it was seen in shallow water in Baja California Sur, along Mexico’s Pacific Coast. A group of people who were visiting the area spotted the fish swimming near a beach on Feb. 9. …

Strange things live in the depths of the ocean. Even the light of the sun cannot penetrate the inky blackness below. The pressure of the water above is crushing. And yet life somehow survives, adapted to that strange world. Many of the fish there are partly luminescent to attract prey. They are omnivores, making up for the lack of food …

With serpentine necks, flippers and a mouth full of needle-sharp teeth, plesiosaurs have captured imaginations since paleontologists uncovered the first specimen more than two centuries ago. Their skeletal anatomy is well documented, but their external appearance has largely remained a mystery. Now researchers have conducted the first detailed analysis of plesiosaur soft tissue, offering a more complete look at what …

The first great white shark was found dead in August 2023 on a beach in a national park on Prince Edward Island, Canada: a young male, 500 pounds, 8 feet 9 inches from snout to tail. Park workers soon arrived with a pickup truck, loaded the carcass and drove it to a cooler at the Atlantic Veterinary College at the …

The first great white shark was found dead in August 2023 on a beach in a national park on Prince Edward Island, Canada: a young male, 500 pounds, 8 feet 9 inches from snout to tail. Park workers soon arrived with a pickup truck, loaded the carcass and drove it to a cooler at the Atlantic Veterinary College at the …

Let’s be candid here. Vomit is something you want to get rid of. You don’t want it hanging around for a day, or an hour, or even a few minutes. And certainly not for 66 million years. And yet, scientists say, vomit that old has been found in the Cliffs of Stevns, a white chalk cliff and UNESCO World Heritage …

With hornlike facial fins and diamond-shape bodies that can stretch nearly 30 feet across, manta rays are among the strangest fish in the sea. Yet these behemoths’ most puzzling feature is a whip-like tail that can measure as long as the rest of the fish’s body. Why mantas and related rays have such long tails has long been a mystery. …

Julie Packard, the marine biologist who has presided over the Monterey Bay Aquarium since it opened in 1984 and shepherded it through the Covid pandemic, announced her retirement as executive director on Wednesday. Ms. Packard has helped repurpose the thick-glassed fish museums of old into potent forces for ocean conservation action. Built with a $55 million donation by her parents, …

Julie Packard, the marine biologist who has presided over the Monterey Bay Aquarium since it opened in 1984 and shepherded it through the Covid pandemic, announced her retirement as executive director on Wednesday. Ms. Packard has helped repurpose the thick-glassed fish museums of old into potent forces for ocean conservation action. Built with a $55 million donation by her parents, …

Night fell as the two scientists got to work, unfurling long nets off the end of their boat. The jungle struck up its evening symphony: the sweet chittering of insects, the distant bellowing of monkeys, the occasional screech of a kite. Crocodiles lounged in the shallows, their eyes glinting when headlamps were shined their way. Across the water, cargo ships …