The “baby boom” of ochre sea stars that followed a population crash a decade ago is enabling the species to recover on the Oregon Coast.

The study reveals that OIF promotes marine carbon sinks by adding iron to “high-nutrient, low-chlorophyll” marine regions (e.g., the Southern Ocean), which enhances the photosynthesis of surface phytoplankton and thereby increases marine carbon sinks. In contrast, AOA improves seawater alkalinity by adding alkaline materials (such as limestone) to the ocean; through carbonate chemical processes, this method drives the ocean to absorb more CO₂ from the atmosphere.

Researchers are redefining the nutritional value of prey. Studying the dynamics of sea lion predators and their prey, the researchers found that not all prey are the same — even those of similar size and weight of the same species — offering new perspectives for understanding ocean food resources.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have uncovered the first natural example of granular jamming, a process where loose particles lock into place under pressure, in the skeleton of a soft coral. The discovery explains a long-observed mystery in biology and could inspire new designs for medical devices, robotics and protective gear.

Egyptian paleontologists have discovered the earliest known member of Dyrosauridae — a group of long-snouted, coastal and marine Crocodyliforms— in the Western Desert of Egypt. The new species, Wadisuchus kassabi, lived around 80 million years ago and bridges a crucial fossil gap in the early evolution of marine crocs. The well-preserved skull and jaws, described in The Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, reveal transitional features in the development of the dyrosaurid snout and skull adaptations. The findings point to North Africa — particularly Egypt’s Quseir Formation — as the birthplace of Dyrosauridae before their global expansion following the dinosaur extinction.

Researchers have for the first time closely tracked the fine-scale diving behaviour of two species of sea snakes that forage along the seafloor and discovered that one species performs a curious wiggle while travelling underwater.

Octopuses, due to their flexible arms, marvelous adaptability, and powerful suckers, are able to effortlessly grasp and disengage various objects in the marine surrounding without causing devastation. However, manipulating delicate objects such as soft and fragile foods underwater require gentle contact and stable adhesion, which poses a serious challenge to now available soft grippers. Inspired by the sucker infundibulum structure and flexible tentacles of octopus, herein we developed a hydraulically actuated hydrogel soft gripper with adaptive maneuverability by coupling multiple hydrogen bond-mediated supramolecular hydrogels and vat polymerization three-dimensional printing, in which hydrogel bionic sucker is composed of a tunable curvature membrane, a negative pressure cavity, and a pneumatic chamber. The design of the sucker structure with the alterable curvature membrane is conducive to realize the reliable and gentle switchable adhesion of the hydrogel soft gripper. As a proof-of-concept, the adaptive hydrogel soft gripper is capable of implement diversified underwater tasks, including gingerly grasping fragile foods like egg yolks and tofu, as well as underwater robots and vehicles that station-keeping and crawling based on switchable adhesion. This study therefore provides a transformative strategy for the design of novel soft grippers that will render promising utilities for underwater exploration soft robotics.

Feeding coral larvae a coral “baby food” can dramatically increase their chances of survival, a new study finds.

Specialized AI models can better emulate short-term and long-term dynamics in the Gulf of Mexico while avoiding “hallucinations” — physically impossible scenarios. These models could soon be deployed for applications like managing port operations, directing ships during bad weather, and monitoring extreme events like hurricanes.

A new research paper published in Science reports the functional extinction of Acropora corals from Florida’s Coral Reef. Scientists documented catastrophic mortality of these critically endangered corals following a record-setting marine heatwave in 2023 that marked the ninth mass bleaching event for the region. Both Acropora coral species — staghorn (Acropora cervicornis) and elkhorn (Acropora palmata) — are important reef-builders in Florida and the Caribbean and have been a major focus of recent coral restoration efforts.