Through a unique collaboration between the Senckenberg Ocean Species Alliance (SOSA), Pensoft Publishers, and science communicator Ze Frank, a new species of deep-sea chiton has officially been named by the public. Following a week-long viral campaign that invited global name suggestions, the species’ formal scientific description was published today in the Biodiversity Data Journal.

Scientists have captured a rare view of one of the ocean’s least understood whales—without ever seeing it. By listening to the sounds beaked whales naturally produce, researchers have reconstructed a three-dimensional picture of their deep-diving behavior in the Gulf of Mexico.

For the first time, a science team directly documented and extensively sampled a freshened water system beneath the ocean floor. This major discovery comes from the initial analyses of sediment cores recovered during an international scientific expedition led by Co-Chief Scientists Professor Brandon Dugan (Colorado School of Mines, Golden, USA) and Professor Rebecca Robinson (Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, USA). The cores, retrieved from deep below the sea floor, are now being opened, analysed and sampled by the science team, during almost a month of intensive collaborative work at the University of Bremen. During January and February 2026 the expedition’s scientists are working side by side to uncover new insights into the formation, evolution, and significance of this newly documented subseafloor freshwater system.