Given the internet’s obsession with both large cephalopods and bizarre animals, you’d think blanket octopuses would be all over it by now. I mean, a two-meter-long octopus… Read more “Six Reasons the Blanket Octopus is My New Favorite Stunning Sea Creature”
Category: Ecology
This may be the ocean’s most horrifying monster (and you’ve probably never heard of it)
When I first learned about rhizocephalan barnacles I lost my appetite. I was taking a parasitology course, and even though I’d developed a thick skin, something about… Read more “This may be the ocean’s most horrifying monster (and you’ve probably never heard of it)”
Meet Phylliroe: the sea slug that looks and swims like a fish
This article first appeared at Deep Sea News Biologists have a habit of naming things after cool animals. Cars named after comb jellies, internet passwords after giant squid.… Read more “Meet Phylliroe: the sea slug that looks and swims like a fish”
Ripping yourself out from the inside: The story of a starfish’s birth (and yours, too)
Baby starfish are actually magical ocean fairies called bipinnaria that swim whimsically through the sea: Yes, this wee young thing is a starfish, though it looks nothing… Read more “Ripping yourself out from the inside: The story of a starfish’s birth (and yours, too)”
Bali’s hidden jellyfish garden
Can you see all the jellies? I’m currently in Indonesia on a much needed vaca, and obviously that means trying to find as many jellyfish as possible. … Read more “Bali’s hidden jellyfish garden”
Jellyfishing: A multi-million dollar industry
Check out this incredible video of jellyfishing (aka ‘jellyballing’). The first part of the video, with the brown-colored jellyfish, is from the US state of Georgia, where… Read more “Jellyfishing: A multi-million dollar industry”
Could jellyfish help clean our seas?
This post is an idea post. It isn’t about the latest science (at least, not fully). Instead, it’s about a thought. Something I’ve been wondering about for… Read more “Could jellyfish help clean our seas?”
This time-lapse video of glowing corals looks like a dreamscape
Best viewed in full-screen HD with headphones. Click here for a full list of species that appear in the video.
Outta-sight jelly babies discovered under black light
So, the flower hat jellyfish pretty much looks like someone painted it while tripping on acid. It doesn’t just have tentacles on the edges, no way man,… Read more “Outta-sight jelly babies discovered under black light”
Mystery of the golden jelly
Just where or where did this beautiful jelly come from? Imagine you’re a fishermen in Chioggia in north-east Italy. It’s autumn, 2013, and you start your… Read more “Mystery of the golden jelly”
The Helm Lab Blog 