Ummm, who was going to tell me that Phronima eat Beroe abyssicola and that when they do they and all their little babies turn pink?? Photo from today when I learned that from putting them in a kreisel together. 🦑🐙

For CTENOPHORE DAY, a little survey: Which end of this fishing Pleurobrachia is the mouth on? Please just "vote" in the comments — no definitive answers. 🦑🧪🌊 P.S. this is one of my earliest #ctenophore photos, shot on film in a home-built kreisel. P.P.S. Legit data-gathering for a future paper.

Happy Ctenophore Day! 🐙🦑🧪

Wow. Japan's JAMSTEC has a probe that goes to over 8K in depth! #deepsea japan-forward.com/japans-deep-...

Our science photo book The Radiant Sea is out Sept 2nd!! 30 years of research, 10 years of "we should", and a year of collating pix and writing. Sönke and I show (mostly for the first time) images of how organisms produce, use, and interact with light in the sea. #bioluminescence #fluorescence 🦑🧪🌊

In the deep ocean & Antarctic waters, sponges grow at a rate of fewer than 2cm/yr. While life on land seems to move at an oft dizzying pace, the size of this sponge suggests this animal may have been alive for hundreds of years. #AntarcticClimateConnections

As currently configured, NASA newest grant opportunity release represents an ****82%**** cut to planetary science research funding. research.ssl.berkeley.edu/~mikewong/bl...

BEHOLD! One of Earth's greatest lineages of life: the lil wiggle arm guys, Meteora. These single-celled critters, originally found in deep-sea sediments, are SO DIFFERENT from other lifeforms on Earth that they're likely in their own kingdom (as in, the Animal Kingdom, the Plant Kingdom etc). 🧪🌿

Death net Not much escapes from the sticky, stinging tentacles of a #siphonophore. Body of ~7”, and a net of tentacles extending >6’. Yes, this creature is on the Do Not Lick list. #forsakaliaedwardsi #nematocysts #blackwater #blackwaterdiving #chrisgug #gugunderwater #gug

Enough of you asked me about this that I wrote some brief thoughts on Ocean Ramsey's particular brand of pseudoscientific nonsense. I believe this addresses almost all of the frequently asked questions I receive, but as always I am happy to answer serious questions asked in good faith. 🧪🦑🌎🦈

It's #InternationalPolychaeteDay, and we've got something for you to celebrate. ❤️ Flame on: The vibrant red gossamer worm is the race car of the deep sea: youtu.be/PII8AvmEvnE?...

MORE of Alexander Semenov's gorgeous worm photography! #worldpolychaeteday

Today’s low tide finds!

So many cool nudis (and other little weirdos) at low tide this morning!

Big news! Our latest paper, “Manufacture and use of allogrooming tools by wild killer whales” has been published in “Current Biology”. This is the first known evidence of a marine mammal making tools out of objects in their environment. Explore more here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Microscopic particles, global impact 🌊🔬 MBARI scientist @cadurkin.bsky.social and her team are using microscopic particles to reveal the mechanisms of carbon transport into the deep sea that can help improve satellite-based models of carbon export. Learn more: bit.ly/carbonexport...

I am used to photographing #ctenophores in darkfield, but under those conditions it is hard to see the pigment spots on this little (5mm) specimen. Fun to see the patterns that show up when viewed against a white background. 🧪🦑🌊

For the first time, scientists have filmed microscopic worms called nematodes in the wild as they glom together and form large wriggling masses. Learn more: scim.ag/3FBwSx3

The Presidents Budget Request for NASA is out. It’s a bloodbath Canceled are DAVINCI, VERITAS, Juno, OSIRIS-APEX, US participation in ExoMars and EnVision… Huge cut to R&A. No funding to begin development of the Uranus Orbiter. If you’ve ever cared about NASA, time to contact congress.

At the heart of MBARI’s research vessel David Packard, a team of skilled pilots commands the ROV Doc Ricketts. 🤖 Chief ROV Pilot Marko Talkovic and his team ensure every system runs safely and efficiently to support missions and advance marine science. Learn more: youtu.be/KGg_xep2vmM?...

If you happen to see a friend across the street, odds are you might raise an arm and wiggle your hand to say hello. Cuttlefish apparently do something similar—and that’s not the only arm gesture they use to communicate. Learn more: scim.ag/4j5nmQv

Join our Jellies team on a journey of gelatinous proportions! 🪼✨ Go behind the scenes as we reveal the science and skill behind culturing these delicate drifters from polyp to pulsing beauty: youtu.be/LCVp1sSh8yI

At MBARI, our “office” is Monterey Bay and its deep underwater canyon. Using advanced robots, we’re revealing the stunning community of life that thrives deep beneath the ocean’s surface.

A dream come true: the first expansion microscopy images of C. flexa 🤩 Generated by Mylan & Uzuki who learned from the best (@hiralshah.bsky.social @gautamdey.bsky.social @dudinlab.bsky.social). We will learn so much from these!

Five people have seen a color never before visible to the naked human eye, thanks to a new retinal stimulation technique called Oz. Learn more in #ScienceAdvances: scim.ag/442Hjn6

Some photos of Saturn are simply breathtaking.

Featured image with Allan Carrillo-Baltodano This is an image of a larva of a phoronid worm. To swim, the larva propels itself using cilia 💃 Find out about @allancarbal.bsky.social and his #EvoDevo research on marine annelids: thenode.biologists.com/featured-ima...

🦑 This baby is COLOSSAL! 🦑 First confirmed live observation of the colossal squid, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, in its natural habitat. Filmed at about 600m near the South Sandwich Islands during the #SouthSandwichIslands expedition. youtu.be/lzPoG9H8Hlo

OH WOW! A HUGE Radiolarian called Tuscaridium caught on this stalk! 4853 m #okeanos #saveNOAA Murray Fracture Zone

Collodarian Galaxy #NSFfunded

In the deep sea, we know all about romance. ⁠❤️⁠ ⁠ Female gossamer worms (Tomopteris spp.) produce a pheromone that attracts males and signals them to shed sperm into the water. This, in turn, signals the female to release her eggs—a behavior called swarming.

It’s hard to beat field work in Hawaii with @cadurkin.bsky.social @lenaunderwater.bsky.social and others of the @mbarinews.bsky.social team..! We are using blue-water scuba diving to study #ctenophores, siphonophores, radiolarians, and #bioluminescence. 🦑🌊🧪🤿

A couple of big diving milestones recently… completed my drysuit and AAUS scientific diver certifications!

Heading home and looking good doing it🚢⁠ ⁠ MBARI’s new vessel, the R/V David Packard, is making its homeward journey to Monterey Bay. ⁠The crew is hard at work keeping the vessel running smoothly and continuing to upgrade and outfit the ship before its arrival. Follow along: odss.mbari.org/odss/

A fun case of usual-unusual: Most luminescence in the sea is blue-green, but Tomopteris worms emit yellow light. With Warren Francis, we found a species that emits blue light — unusual but usual. 🦑🧪 link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00227-016-3028-2 doi.org/10.1002/bio.2671

Hello out there scientists. If you're having meetings or grants or anything else impacted by freeze of NSF meetings, please feel free to reach out to me to share your story. Signal: thealexknapp.79 Email: [email protected]

Remember how there was a pause in Hollywood productions from the strikes, etc and then TV and film kinda sucked for a while? The same thing is about to happen in science in the near future, but it's going to impact you more than a season of the The Bachelor 🧪 #NSF #NIH

The cosmic dolphin swimming the Jovian seas. Seen by Juno on Perijove 16. flic.kr/p/2mSaSLY

How the fire affected NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory: About 210 employees lost their homes. Others were displaced by damage to their neighborhoods. Employees kept the institution running, some putting worst-case emergency training to use. @corinnepurtill.bsky.social www.latimes.com/california/s...

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES IN LOS ANGELES: If you’re looking to get involved with volunteer efforts in LA, please check out this list provided by Mutual Aid LA:

JPL is one of NASA's major science and climate centers—home to the Mars rovers and 1000s of people. Firefighters held back the flames at JPL’s gates, but many of our coworkers lost their homes. Here’s a thread of their public GoFundMes if you can share & support however possible:

Please send anything you can to Jordan @indiedynamo.bsky.social, who lost his home, brother, and father to the fires here in Los Angeles. If you can’t donate, please share. www.gofundme.com/f/help-jorda...

If you've never experienced a wildfire—and I hope you never do—it's overwhelming, not knowing where to go or what to do. People in LA right now don't need my advice, but for those of us watching, we're *all* vulnerable to disaster. If you haven't, take the time to educate yourself and be prepared.

I find it hilarious that one pattern cuttlefish like to do is a big white square on their mantle. They are great at doing patterns to blend in with their enviroment but sometimes they just think "time for ■"

Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus with active cryovolcanoes. The water ice being ejected then feed Saturn’s E ring.

Phobos over Mars! Yes, that's also Olympus Mons... The full size image is 140MP: flic.kr/p/2qdsc1g Credit: Image Processing: AndreaLuck CC BY Raw data: ESA/DLR/FUBerlin 🔭 ESA Mars Express 2024-07-13

Retro is in, even in the ocean. The orcas are once again wearing salmon hats www.newscientist.com/article/2457...

#CASSINI ORBITER #SATURN MISSION TARGET NAME: Saturn #Rings Instrument: Cassini #ISS Camera: Narrow Angle Red GRN BL1 Filters NASA/JPL/j. Roger

Voyage of the Moons This is a video I made in 2018 showing moons Europa and Io out in front of Jupiter then Titan with Saturn. Made with still imagery taken by NASA’s Cassini mission. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/CICLOPS/Kevin M. Gill