Pyrosomes are colonial tunicates made up of thousands of individuals known as zooids. Each zooid is housed in the common gelatinous tunic that makes up the larger cylindrical “body” of the pyrosome. Zooids filter phytoplankton through branchial baskets by creating feeding currents through the tunic. Although each zooid is only a couple of millimeters in size, pyrosomes can reach up to several meters in length. While alive, these organisms spend the majority of their time in the upper water column, but their remains have been found as deep as 4,000 meters (13,120 feet), where they provide food for a variety of deep-sea animals.
Pyrosomes are bioluminescent, producing brilliant blue-green light. Each zooid can detect light and emit light in response, creating waves of bioluminescence up and down the organism’s body. The bioluminescence of one pyrosome can trigger others in surrounding waters, producing beautiful light shows. The name Pyrosoma comes from the Greek term meaning “fire body.”
A shark on a reef is a definite sign that the reef is healthy! Years ago people were terrified if the saw a shark, now were horrified that we may not see sharks on the reef or anywhere, because we have killed over 90% in the last 50 years. We must end to this needless slaughter! Sharks are essential to keeping our oceans healthy and in balance! The oceans are the heart of our planet! Over 50% of the air we breath and 70% of the protein we eat comes from the ocean. Without our the ocean all life on this planet will die. Please be the change the world needs to survive!
Best immediate way to save sharks here in the US…Support Oceanas Shark Fin Trade Ban! Please sign, share the petition and support this effort! https://www.change.org/p/congress-ban-the-trade-of-shark-fins-in-the-u-s - #regrann (at Tiger Beach)
Fishes in the family Macrouridae, also known as rattails, can glimpse even the faintest flickers of bioluminescence—the “living light” produced by deep-sea animals. Their keen eyesight reveals prey, like fishes and squid, darting in the waters above the seafloor. A rattail relies on other senses, like smell and touch, to find a meal too. It has a nose for rotting carrion, and sensitive barbels on its chin detect small crustaceans or worms wiggling in the mud below.
Common Dolphin, West Ireland
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The National Science Foundation (NSF)—the major funding agency for basic science—has canceled all grant review panels this week to comply with an executive order from the new administration. This is where independent panels of scientists discuss grant proposals they’ve reviewed for scientific merit and recommend which projects get funded to NSF project managers. A LOT of work goes into setting up and scheduling grant reviews. It will take time to reschedule these panels, delaying key decisions for many promising projects. This will wreak havoc on science grant funding for months to come.
Put simply, this action along with the halting of NIH-funded grants are blatant and reckless political attacks on science, from an administration that seeks blinding loyalty.
Gliding through the open ocean with style, the pelagic stingray is a sleek swimmer facing a big challenge: getting caught as bycatch in the fishing industry.
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First images of creatures from Antarctic depths revealed
Photos by Christian Åslund / Greenpeace
Blog dedicted to phytoplankton. Phytoplankton are microscopic organisms that are responsible for half of the photosynthesis that occurs on Earth. Oh, and they look like art... Follow to learn more about these amazing litter critters! Caution: Will share other ocean science posts!Run by an oceanographer and phytoplankton expert. Currently a postdoctoral researcher.Profile image: False Colored SEM image of Emiliania huxleyi, a coccolithophore, and the subject of my doctoral work. Credit: Steve Gschmeissner/ Science Photo Library/ Getty ImagesHeader image: Satellite image of a phytoplankton bloom off the Alaskan Coast, in the Chukchi SeaCredit: NASA image by Norman Kuring/NASA's Ocean Color Web https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/92412/churning-in-the-chukchi-sea
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