Science Archives - Mission Blue

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Southern Ocean Retrospectives and Perspectives

Maggie Amsler, Department of Biology University of Alabama at Birmingham

I recently sailed away from Antarctica on almost the shortest day of the year, plying north through the Southern Ocean to the port city of Punta Arenas, Chile and ultimately flying home to Alabama where I touched down on the longest day (and hottest?!) of the year in Alabama. The four-day transit featured relatively calm seas most of the time, even in the notorious Drake Passage. Island-lifestyle enthusiast Jimmy Buffett would term my relocation a “change in latitude” and as a career polar marine biologist, I have made this drastic hemispheric shift for each of my 27 expeditions to Antarctica. According to my back of the envelope scribbles, I have had the privilege of spending approximately eight years of my life beside, on, in and even above the Southern Ocean.…

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Mission Blue Launches First Arctic Expedition to the Svalbard Archipelago Hope Spot!

Rachel Krasna

Imagine journeying all the way to the Arctic only to find nothing, just sheer barren cold desert leading into the open blue. That scenario is not so far fetched lately, as scientists start to struggle with the reality of the melting Arctic landscape. With increasingly warmer waters and temperature rising, the Arctic could face ice-free periods each summer by 2050. This poses grave concern for countless species and biota that call this ecosystem home, particularly in one of the Mission Blue Hope Spots – the Svalbard Archipelago. Why should we care? Arctic sea ice is critical for wildlife, and also helps regulate the planet’s temperature. Recent studies also say that Arctic sea ice — and the lack of it — can impact natural weather patterns in distant areas like the United States (USA Today, 4/3/18).…

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Ocean Science in the Spotlight at AAAS Annual Meeting

Can better aquaculture technology sustainably feed our growing world population? Is the future of conservation at a crossroads? How can we increase appreciation for ecosystem services like wave-breaking sand dunes and protective mangroves before a disaster?
Those were some of the questions asked by leading marine researchers and conservation policy advocates at the annual meeting held by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Boston, MA this past President’s Day Weekend.
The ocean played a key role in the program at this year’s AAAS Meeting, the theme of which was “The Beauty and Benefits of Science.” With approximately 6,000 researchers and science enthusiasts from around the world, attendees ranged from astrophysicists and chemists to science communicators, reporters and even artists.…

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New Carnivorous Sponge Discovered by Scientists

Ten thousand feet below the ocean's surface, the seafloor is a dark, desolate, and dangerous place where even the most benign-looking creatures can be deadly predators. Recently, a team of scientists discovered an unlikely new carnivorous species.