“Yes, Hello, Are You Aware That It’s Sea Turtle Week?" 

Advice to other First Generation College students

Meet “the sheep of the Mesozoic,” Protoceratops andrewsi. This herbivore was a very common animal and is remarkably well-represented in the fossil record.

It’s the biologists turn

Having recently shared images from the Nikon Small World (see http://bit.ly/2xQdOHd) and the Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2017 awards (see http://bit.ly/2ipNvkn), here are some photos from the Royal Society of Biology’s 2017 Photographer of the Year and Young Photographer of the Year competitions in a week of the year that seems to have all these events announcing their honours more or less simultaneously.

Keep reading

Trump’s War on Science continues

Ars Technica

Editorial: Censoring the scientific enterprise, one grant at a time

Recent grant terminations are a symptom of a widespread attack on science.

Hatfield Marine Science Center:

Sashay the Pacific Giant Octopus Gets Released Sashay, our stunning and extremely friendly Visitor Center octopus was released back into the wild on November 26th. After being gently introduced into the Yaquina Bay, she temporarily crawled onto land. This gave her human fans a final opportunity to say goodbye.

This type of behavior has not been seen at any of our previous releases and was an unforgettable moment for all who witnessed it. While it was difficult to bid this beautiful animal adieu, we want our octopuses to have the opportunity to reproduce and finish their lives in the wild. We hope you enjoy these photos!

Photos by Volunteer James Upton

Underwater creatures: Photographer Marty Snyderman captures unique behaviors

Underwater photographer Marty Snyderman’s fascinating body of work brings to life some of the more unique behaviors of the animals of the deep. Snyderman has dedicated his professional life to documenting these creatures — including those that clean other fish, guard fertilized eggs in their mouths, and “fish” for their dinner using a natural worm or fishlike lure incorporating their own body as a fishing rod. In order to find such intriguing creatures, Snyderman, 67, said a lot of discussion must first take place between himself and fishermen, scientists, photographers or even local diving instructors. When photographing his subjects, he tries to stay within one or two feet of them whenever possible, something he admits can be tricky, given the sensitivity of the fish, whales, manta rays and other subjects. (Caters News)

Photography by Marty Snyderman

See more photos of underwater creatures and our other slideshows on Yahoo News.

Common Dolphin, West Ireland

What a Nut!— Invasive Species Week

This ctenophore (a stingless jellyfish-like animal) called a sea walnut is native to the east coast of North and South America. In 1982, it was discovered in the Black Sea, where it was transported by ballast water. It subsequently spread to the Caspian Sea. In both places, it multiplied and formed immense populations. The sea walnuts contributed to the collapse of local fisheries because they feed on zooplankton that the commercial fish also consume. Mnemiopsis leidy has also been discovered in the Mediterranean, Baltic, and North Seas.

Photo Credit: Marco Faasse, World Register of Marine Species

The Ghost, Craig Parry’s photo of the famed white whale Migaloo won first place in the underwater world category at the 2017 Golden Turtle International Photography Competition in Moscow this week.

What’s a whale fall?

Whale falls can be found throughout the ocean. This one was spotted in Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, off the coast of Southern California!

GIF transcript beneath the cut.

Keep reading