At the time of the spring tide (new moon and full moon), thousands of puffer fish around the world head for the coastlines to spawn. There, they gather at the water’s edge and vigorously tremble their bodies to spawn.
Scientists have long wondered how the puffer fish were able to synchronise their spawning with the lunar cycle.
A paper published in a recent issue of the Current Biology journal has the answers.
Last September, ecologist David Johnson and his colleagues were at a Virginia salt marsh at low tide. There, they observed some unexpected behaviour by an aquatic predator.
They witnessed blue crabs waiting in shallow, water-filled pits, stalking and ambushing fiddler crabs above land, at low tide.
After capturing their prey, they would carry it back to the pit to consume it, then discard the large claws of the fiddler crab at the edge of the pit.
The Mexican government has announced the successful conclusion of a project involving the placement of 193 cement blocks on the sea floor in strategic locations in the vaquita’s habitat.
Called the Concrete Block Planting project, the objective was to discourage the setting of gillnets within the Zero Tolerance Area, where the remaining vaquita population is localised. Large steel hooks protrude from the top of the blocks, trapping any gillnets they come into contact with.
In early October, after nearly three months, the 193rd block was finally placed on the sea bed.
Launched in 1629, Applet (Apple) was built by the same shipbuilder as the famed 69-metre Vasa, which was carrying 64 cannons when it went down in a strait off the island of Vaxholm, just outside the capital, Stockholm. Vasa was meant to serve as a symbol of Sweden’s military might at the time but capsized after sailing just over 1,000 metres. It was salvaged in 1961 and is on display at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, one of Sweden’s most popular tourist spots.
There are many ways you can review a dive computer, but wearing it on your arm for one or two dives does not constitute a proper test—at least, not a meaningful one. This review is therefore based on the use of the unit over a six-month period, where around 65 dives were conducted in different locations and water conditions. Lelle Malmström puts the Ratio’s new dive computer iX3M 2 through its paces.
In the far corner of Europe, in the Levant and almost wedged in-between Asia Minor, the Middle East and Northern Africa and at the crossroads of the same, Cyprus offers a nourishing mix of varied diving, culture and cuisine. Lelle Malmström and Peter Symes went to check it out.
The tiny Mediterranean country of Malta has seen more than its fair share of fighting throughout the ages, such is the significance of its location. Steve Jones explores the fascinating wrecks left by the World Wars.
Many marine creatures have defensive mechanisms—they may sting, have venom, sharp spines, warning colors, or bite. We asked our contributors what their favorite underwater photos of these bold and beautiful critters were, and they came back with a variety of subjects like colorful nudibranchs, cnidarians that sting, scorpionfish with sharp spines, sharks and even crocodiles with sharp teeth.
In Part One and Part Two of this series, we discussed US Northeast wrecks that sank because of collisions and war. There are also many structures that have purposely been sunk as artificial reefs off the New York and New Jersey coasts. Larry Cohen and Olga Torrey have the story.
