Posts by Ken Kostel
The Lawless High Seas May Soon Gain Protections Under a Groundbreaking Ocean Treaty
“Historically, the high seas have been open to a wide array of uses,” said Porter Hoagland, a senior research specialist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. “There’s a notion of the freedom of the high seas, and with modern technology—including the ability to get out and use the ocean in those areas, as well as…
Read MoreFollowing the DNA trail in the Pacific Ocean
The San Jose Mercury-News reports on a new method researchers are using to track marine life by analyzing genetic material animals leave behind in the water. READ MORE >>
Read MoreOpen Wide
The jaw of the loosejaw dragonfish (Photostomias goodyeari) is a marvel of the animal kingdom. It has no floor and is only attached by a hinge, a tendon, and a modified tongue bone. This series of images shows the incredible extent to which it can open it’s jaw—an indication of the size of the prey…
Read MoreA Tunnel to the Twilight Zone
Last year, researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the Applied Physics Lab at the University of Washington (UW) discovered that when white sharks are ready to feast, they ride large, swirling ocean currents known as eddies to fast-track their way to the ocean twilight zone—a layer of the ocean between 200 and 1000 meters…
Read MoreA Light in the Darkness
A key feature of Deep-See is the Large-Area Plankton Imaging System, or LAPIS camera, mounted on the front of the vehicle. It was developed at WHOI and captures 24 megapixel, high-definition images of the many creatures large and small that live in the ocean twilight zone, especially those with gelatinous bodies. The camera uses powerful…
Read MoreWho goes there?
As the Ocean Twilight Zone expedition on the NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow off the US East Coast winds down, the scientists aboard are taking the measure of the immense amount of data that’s so far been collected over the past 13 days. In addition to acoustic data, net samples, and images from Deep-See,…
Read MoreFirst sea trials of a revolutionary new undersea robot
In late June researchers from MBARI joined engineers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) to test a new breed of undersea robot designed to open up new avenues of research in the mesopelagic, also known as the ocean’s twilight zone. This vehicle, the Mesobot, originated at WHOI and was developed over the past two years…
Read MoreTrawling the Depths
Mesopelagic trawl sampling is still going strong on the NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow with one more round tomorrow before they finish the cruise with more than two days of acoustic surveys. Probably the most celebrated animal they’ve caught so far was a paper nautilus or Argonaut (Argonauta argo) that featured in an earlier post.…
Read MoreUp Close with a Lancetfish
One of the highlights from the mid-water trawl last night on NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow was this lancetfish (Alepisaurus ferox). Lancetfish are one of the top predators in the twilight zone and can grow to more than 2 meters (6 feet) in length—though this one was only about 15 inches. They are also voracious…
Read MoreThe Expedition Begins
On the second day of their 15-day expedition to explore the ocean twilight zone aboard NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow, scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and National Marine Fisheries deployed Deep-See in the Atlantic Ocean. That first deployment was in relatively shallow water to test systems for a deeper deployment the next day,…
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