Radio Program
Our regular Science and the SeaTM radio program presents marine science topics in an engaging two-minute story format. Our script writers gather ideas for the radio program from the University of Texas Marine Science Institute's researchers and from our very popular college class, Introduction to Oceanography, which we teach to hundreds of non-science majors at The University of Texas at Austin every year. Our radio programs are distributed at to commercial and public radio stations across the country.
The cutest little critter in the deep ocean just might be the dumbo octopus. It has large, rounded fins on its body that resemble the ears of Dumbo, Walt Disney’s animated elephant. And like the adorable little elephant, the dumbo octopus uses those big “ears” to get around.
Biologists have identified about 20 species of dumbos, which are also known by the scientific name Grimpoteuthis. They’re found all around the world. They’re not seen very often, though, because they live at depths of about two to two-and-a-half miles — deeper than any other octopus.
The ocean floor sometimes “burps.” In fact, according to some recent research, it burps a lot just off the eastern coast of the United States.
For two years, researchers used sonar to peer at the continental margin from Massachusetts down to North Carolina. That margin is where the shallow continental shelf gives way to the deep ocean.
The sonar revealed columns of bubbles streaming from 570 spots along the margin. The researchers haven’t sampled the gas in those bubbles, but it most likely consists of methane — the main ingredient in natural gas.
It doesn’t always pay to be beautiful. By the early 20th century, for example, several shorebirds had been hunted to near-extinction for their beautiful plumage. They needed federal protection to keep them from disappearing.
Anyone who’s had the flu knows that a virus can really drain your energy. But some viruses found in the deep ocean seem to take this energy draining to the extreme. They force bacteria to “burn” their energy reserves, then use that energy for their own.
The archerfish is the sharpshooter of the seas. It lurks near the shore, in estuaries and mangrove forests. When it sees a tasty bug or even a small lizard on a low-hanging leaf or branch, it fires a powerful jet of water. The impact stuns the target and knocks it into the water, where it’s easy prey.
The world’s biggest hot tub isn’t in Cancún or South Beach or even Las Vegas. Instead, it extends almost half-way around the world, from the east coast of Africa to the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The water in the heart of this band peaks at about 86 degrees Fahrenheit, making it the warmest ocean water on the planet.
There’s strength in numbers. Fish and shellfish lay many trillions of eggs every year. That’s important to the health and survival of the species, because most of the eggs never hatch. In fact, most of them never even get the chance — they’re eaten by other creatures. But there’s strength in those numbers as well.The eggs may supply nutrients to the entire marine food chain.
The eggs are rich in essential fatty acids — compounds that are needed for normal development and body function. They sustain the embryos inside the eggs, as well as the young hatchlings.
More than a third of a century ago, scientists were cruising along the ocean floor off the Galapagos Islands when they saw something remarkable: a column of super-heated water bubbling up into the icy depths, surrounded by species of life that no one had ever seen before. They’d discovered hydrothermal vents — small geysers of mineral-rich water warmed by molten rock below the ocean floor.
The coral reefs off one of the islands of Palau are marine acidheads. They thrive in waters that are more acidic than those yet measured for any other healthy reef. That’s of interest because the world’s oceans are becoming more acidic as a result of our changing climate.
The American eel certainly gets around. It can travel from the western Atlantic Ocean to Lake Ontario. And after hanging out in the Great Lakes for a while, it turns around and heads back out to sea.
