People mostly think of jellyfish as delicate creatures, traipsing around the deep blue sea with every ocean flow that moves them. But according to biologists, that’s just not true. A new study published in Current Biology claims that jellyfish are able to discern oceanic currents and position themselves to swim against them.

Bright pink sea slugs are taking over the coastal northern California seas. The Hopkins’ rose nudibranch, predominantly found in southern California tidal pools, have begun propagating in waters north of San Luis Obispo and up as far as Humboldt county, where they are rarely found. While beautiful, every rose has thorns—and the garden of pink slugs may be indicative of bad news.

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is facing some serious troubles. New research indicates that rising oceanic temperatures and changing environmental factors are devastating the expansive reef. Spanning nearly 1,430 miles, the Great Barrier Reef has 600 different types of hard and soft coral. But over the past 27 years, the Great Barrier Reef has lost 50 percent of its coral cover, according to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.

The sound of ice melting in your lemonade does not quite make the same amount of noise as melting glaciers. In fact, the difference is deafening. A new study that analyzed the noise levels in glacial fjords has discovered that the ice melting off of glaciers and icebergs creates a louder sound underwater than initially theorized.

The ocean is one of the most mysterious places on the planet. Due to the vast expanse and immense depth of the world’s oceans, it’s impossible to explore every inch of the sea, and researchers are discovering new organisms every day. In 2014 alone, scientists identified 1,451 new species in the world’s oceans, according to a report published by the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) last Thursday.

With all of the devastation that hurricanes cause on land, it’s easy to disregard the damages done within the ocean itself. Nova Southeastern University’s Oceanographic Center (NSU) researchers have recently determined that the oceanic changes in currents during a hurricane accelerate the distribution of invasive marine species, according to their research article published in Global Change Biology.

The melting of Antarctica is not expecting to slow down anytime soon. In fact, scientists believe that the glacial melting of the southernmost continent is thawing at an irrevocable rate, according to a recent study published in the scientific journal Nature Geoscience. Totten Glacier, a glacial behemoth located in East Antarctica, is thinning faster than any other glacier in the Antarctic.

The ripple effects of climate change are far reaching, and while scientists have long known the devastation global warming causes on the world’s oceans as a result of deoxygenation, it’s startling to realize that seas could take thousands of years to recover. A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States (PNAS) states that climate change affects seafloor ecosystem biodiversity on continental margins, and ecological recovery could take a millennia.

A teensy, little songbird can reportedly fly over the ocean without stopping for respite or feeding. In the latest issue of Biology Letters, a published scientific study proves that the blackpoll warbler flies approximately 1,700 miles from the northeastern United States and eastern Canada over the Atlantic Ocean to South America as a part of its autumn migration.

Ocean acidification once caused the largest mass extinction in Earth’s history, according to a new study in Science. And with global warming prompting ocean pH levels to plummet, a similar situation may be imminent. 252 million years ago, the world’s oceans absorbed massive amounts of carbon dioxide as a result of extreme volcanic eruptions in the Siberian Traps, which spewed lava onto the Earth’s surface and launched carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

With so many coral reefs degrading, scientists have learned that managing reef fish may help sustain the diminishing ecosystems. A new study published in the scientific journal Nature stated that the addition of fish to a coral reef ecosystem helps rehabilitate the dwindling environment. Fishing is the primary reason for coral reef degradation on a global scale.

It’s hard to debate the rarity of an animal when only two have ever been seen. Scientists recently identified the tiny pocket shark for a second time, and the discovery happened by chance in a Mississippi laboratory. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ship Pisces scooped up the shark in 2010 while collecting specimens in relation to a sperm whale feeding study.

Have you ever thought about what happens to a pod of cackling dolphins when a noisy boat whips past? Well, they just chortle a little louder, that’s all. Unfortunately, though, straining to be heard drains energy from the marine mammals, new research suggests. Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Northwest Fisheries Science Center and the University of California – Santa Cruz have discovered that the added metabolic cost of vocalizing louder calls and whistles adds up over time.

Everyone knows someone with a voice that is “music to our ears” or “nails on a chalkboard.”. That’s because humans are able to identify others based on their vocal arrangements alone. Scientists are using this ability in an effort to help track and protect North Atlantic right whales. In a new study, researchers have been able to correctly identify thirteen different right whales based on several different vocal characteristics.

With all our knowledge about skin cancer and premature aging, going outside without sunscreen nowadays is foolish. Smearing on lotion every morning is tiresome, but it is a necessity for humans’ delicate skin. Fish, on the other hand, don’t have to worry about popping open a tube of Coppertone, because their skin naturally produces their own protective barrier against UV radiation through the production of a chemical named gadusol.

Not all fish are cold at the core. Certain species of fish have a dense network of arteries and veins in their guts that warm their body to a higher temperature than the surrounding water, a process called endothermy. Marine biologists have known about endothermic fish for some time, but scientists have not realized the consequence of this atypical ability – until now.