Seagrass meadows are critical habitats which need conservation — and research shows that for one particularly important species of seagrass, Amphibolis antarctica, this could be as simple as collecting their free-floating baby seedlings and replanting them. By scuba-diving to observe wild meadows scientists have now learned that it reproduces sexually, producing seedlings which are new genetic individuals rather than clones of the parent plant. This boosts the plants’ genetic diversity, giving them the best possible chance of surviving disease, heatwaves, and other threats. We can restore healthy meadows and protect biodiversity by giving these seedlings somewhere to settle down.  

A collaborative research team led by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST),  the Institute of Zoology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOZ-CAS) and the Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou) (GML) has revealed the long-overlooked carbon storage potential of coral reef ecosystems and how reef-dwelling fish, corals, and surface sediments jointly shape reef carbon reservoirs.

A new study from Adelaide University has found that when ocean acidification makes reef habitat less complex, the fish living there gather in smaller shoals that offer less social protection.

There’s a new T. rex in the fossil record, only this one terrorized the ancient seas. New research uncovers a new, massive species of mosasaur, a marine reptile that lived during the age of the dinosaurs. One of the largest mosasaurs known to date—stretching up to 43 feet long—this top predator was described from 80-million-year-old fossils that were found primarily in northern Texas decades ago. It was named Tylosaurus rex, or T. rex for short, meaning “king of the tylosaurs.”

Some beluga whales appear to recognize themselves in a mirror, per a case study of captive whales which may provide the first evidence of mirror self-recognition in the species

A new study from the University of Copenhagen shows that marine heatwaves can disrupt microscopic moving structures on the surface of reef-building corals that support their oxygen uptake. When seawater temperature crosses a critical threshold, this oxygen supply mechanism collapses, increasing the risk of coral death.

The earliest known eukaryotes, the ancestors of all complex life on Earth, lived in oxygenated, shallow marine environments nearly 1.7 billion years ago, according to a new study led by researchers at McGill University and the University of California, Santa Barbara. The findings cast doubt on the long-held belief that early complex life emerged in oxygen-poor environments or floated freely in the open ocean.

A new study of the blue button (Porpita porpita), a small and elusive sea creature which lives on the surface of the ocean, has found that it may live for several years adrift at sea, much longer than previously estimated. Researchers from the University of Tokyo’s Misaki Marine Biological Station also found that the float which keeps the animal adrift expands by growing new rings from its outermost layer. Blue buttons are notoriously difficult to keep alive in captivity, so this is a step closer towards eventually understanding their full life cycle.