The Funny-Looking Bottom Dwellers: Not-Made-For-TV Sharks
Hear the word “shark” and, if you are like most people, you probably think of hair-raising scenes filled with snapping jaws and mouths full…
Marine Life
Coral Reefs: Fall of the Cities Beneath the Sea
“Coral reefs of the world have continued to decline since the previous GCRMN report in 1998. Assessments to late 2000 are that 27% of…
Form and Function: Sea Creature Shapes Examined
My camera was set up with a relatively wide-angle lens but the sea lion was moving so fast and so unpredictably that I was…
Complex Crustaceans: The Lobsters
When I was a kid, starting every year somewhere around the beginning of April, I knew exactly how many days were left in the…
An Eight-armed Wonder: The Octopus
Completely motionless, the killer waited in the nighttime shadows as its unsuspecting victim neared. Watching the scene unfold in front of me from only…
Sharks in Perspective: From Fear to Fascination
I remember quite vividly seeing for the first time the movie “Jaws.” It was the summer of 1975 and, like everyone else, it scared…
The Alien Invasion: Non-native Species Invade the U.S.
What has the power to shut down electrical utilities, disrupt drinking water facilities and cause upwards of $5 billion in damage? An earthquake, hurricane…
Along the Shore: Exploring Life in the Shallows
The terms that we use in diving are often quite baffling to the uninitiated. I once had a student in an introductory (resort) course…
THE STARS OF THE SHOW: MARINE MAMMALS
Phylum: Chordata (cord) Subphylum: Vertebrata (animals with backbones) Class: Mammalia (mammals) There is little doubt that marine mammals occupy a special place in our view…
The Stars of the Show: The Fishes
Phylum: Chordata (cord) Subphylum: Vertebrata (animals with backbones) Class: Chondricthyes and Osteicthyes (Cartilaginous Fishes) (Bony Fishes) I suppose there are those of us who…