Behold The Blue Glaucus (Glaucus Atlanticus), A Tiny Sea Slug That Packs A Powerful Punch! Growing Only

Sharks – like this sandbar shark in Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary – have several adaptations that make them excellent predators. 

Specialized organs called ampullae of Lorenzini help sharks sense electric fields in the water generated by other fish. Their eyes, too, are specially adapted: all shark eyes have a tapetum lucidum, a layer of mirrored crystals located behind the retina, allowing them to see in in low light conditions and up to ten times better than humans in clear water. 

Despite these adaptations, sandbar sharks and other sharks typically pose little threat to humans. We’re more dangerous to them than they are to us! 

(Photo: Nick Zachar/NOAA) 

[Image description: A black-and-white photo of a sandbar shark.]

NSF cancels grant reviews due to WH executive order

The National Science Foundation (NSF)—the major funding agency for basic science—has canceled all grant review panels this week to comply with an executive order from the new administration. This is where independent panels of scientists discuss grant proposals they’ve reviewed for scientific merit and recommend which projects get funded to NSF project managers. A LOT of work goes into setting up and scheduling grant reviews. It will take time to reschedule these panels, delaying key decisions for many promising projects. This will wreak havoc on science grant funding for months to come.

Put simply, this action along with the halting of NIH-funded grants are blatant and reckless political attacks on science, from an administration that seeks blinding loyalty.

NPR

National Science Foundation freezes grant review in response to Trump executive orders

The National Science Foundation has canceled all grant review panels this week. It's unclear how long the pause could last.

Every once in a while, sanctuary researchers get a treat – like getting to see this tiny baby octopus! 🐙 . 

Each summer, researchers conduct expeditions in our West Coast sanctuaries as part of the ACCESS conservation partnership. Researchers get to see creatures big and small when conducting surveys in places like Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary!

Friendly Beluga Whale Plays Fetch With Crew of a South African Ship Using a 2019 Rugby World Cup Ball

Pyrosome passing through #ClearAPathPeople⁠

Pyrosomes are colonial tunicates made up of thousands of individuals known as zooids. Each zooid is housed in the common gelatinous tunic that makes up the larger cylindrical “body” of the pyrosome. Zooids filter phytoplankton through branchial baskets by creating feeding currents through the tunic. Although each zooid is only a couple of millimeters in size, pyrosomes can reach up to several meters in length. While alive, these organisms spend the majority of their time in the upper water column, but their remains have been found as deep as 4,000 meters (13,120 feet), where they provide food for a variety of deep-sea animals. ⁠ ⁠

Pyrosomes are bioluminescent, producing brilliant blue-green light. Each zooid can detect light and emit light in response, creating waves of bioluminescence up and down the organism’s body. The bioluminescence of one pyrosome can trigger others in surrounding waters, producing beautiful light shows. The name Pyrosoma comes from the Greek term meaning “fire body.”

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.

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North Cascades National Park, Washington

A night in the Cascade Mountains

To post about the miniature melo (Micromelo undatus) may seem a bit odd, as it is not a nudibranch but a closely-related sea snail! Its thinly-calcified shell is easily seen covering half of its back and is patterned with dazzling brown-red lines, a stark contrast to the blue, white-spotted body below. It lives in many tropic waters, whether that be Japan or Florida, and reaches about 3cm in length. It eats polychaete worms, and uses their toxins as its own.

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

Common Dolphin, West Ireland