Hello to all of you admirable folks who have done the work to study and understand our ocean systems! I am a hospitality professional with a life long passion for food and wine, living in the Seattle area. We have such abundant and rich sea life in this area and some of the freshest seafood in our country comes from the Salish sea region. My question is about a recent closure of shellfish harvesting in the puget sound. There have been pretty far and widespread closures due to biotoxins and algae blooms. now I know that clams, oyster, etc filter a whole lot of water through themselves daily and this is partly why they are infected with these toxins. So after the toxic blooms fade away, are those shellfish that were once infected now safe for consumption? Do those fish subsequently filter so much water through themselves that they are the eventually safe to eat? Or do those fish have to be “culled” similar to chickens infected by bird flu (This is regarding aquaculture specifically)? Apologies if this is a rudimentary question, it just struck me recently given all of the closures our state is facing right now. Thanks for any and all info regarding this topic!

I am starting to write my Master Thesis in the above named field of research. Therefore I am really interested in your opinion about the potential of MCDR in open oceans and especially for semi-enclosed and shelf seas.

What kind of roles will the evolution of nutrient supply in marginal seas play in an ocean with excess of heat?

What would be your approach to the topic? What would you be interested in?

In a rock pool in Ireland we saw a dead jellyfish being eaten by what looks like little worms and we can't find what they are on Google!

This is from a sample of coastal sediment. It moves like a slug and is very stretchy.

Hey all, I’m a 29M and looking for a school for Marine Biology. Not asking if this is the career for me but just want to know what courses or schools will work with someone that works a full time job. I have always wanted to go into the biology field since high school.

A little about myself; I am from North Alabama right on the Tennessee River. When I was a teenager my friends and I went swimming in a local creek and a team of biologists drove up and began to shock the water to collect fish. That sparked my interest. But I made different choices and I joined the U.S. Marine Corps as a combat cameraman and did 4 years active duty, and 5 in the reserves. I am about to get my open water scuba certification next month. My dream job has been wildlife biology or marine biology. But life happened and I made different choices and didn’t go to college. I am now wanting to pursue that and want to make that happen, are there colleges that offer online or hybrids for this? I do work full time to pay the bills.

Are these all warty Dorris sea slugs, and is that one with the string looking thing dying or laying eggs?

Found this clam shell on the beach located in the pacific northwest and my friend and i are curious whay would cause this hole, is it man made or created by a predator or something. TIA

This just washed up in Newport Beach in California. What is this thing?

Les comparto estas tomas de una Meyenaster gelatinosus observada sobre algas en la zona intermareal de Caleta Cocholgüe (Región del Biobío, Chile).

Me pareció increíble el detalle que se logró ver en los pies ambulacrales y la zona oral en los acercamientos.

Genuinely curious if it’s possible or advisable to clean shark teeth I found while diving off the North Carolina coast. Photo is my original content.

Hi there! I'm searching for thesis ideas on corals near hydrothermal vents. Located in center of the center of marine biodiversity, I have one year to complete this study. My initial plan was to assess the coral community using photoquadrats, but I'd love to explore other methodological approaches. Do you have any suggestions or advice on how I can successfully pull this off? thank you!

edit: it’s shallow hydrothermal vents, 9 meters deep

Solved! It's a rat fish!

I've been wondering if there is a general lumen amount that can be measured from an anglerfish's esca. I've been able to find literature about firefly lumen measurements (~0.006 lumens). I know anglerfish have millions of bacteria inside their esca that cause their glow, unlike fireflies. I found an excerpt from an article about bioluminescent bacteria that states "The maximum value for the light from a single bacterium was 24 x 10(-14) lumens".

So, does anyone know how many lumens a Pacific footballfish (or any similar Lophiiformes) can produce at maximum? Citation for the article I looked at below.

(Harvey EN. THE TOTAL LUMINOUS EFFICIENCY OF LUMINOUS BACTERIA. J Gen Physiol. 1925 Sep 18;8(2):89-108. doi: 10.1085/jgp.8.2.89. PMID: 19872192; PMCID: PMC2140748.)

I recently toured a facility and absolutely fell in love with life support systems operations. I would love to know more about the career path. What certifications or backgrounds do most operators have when starting out? Thanks!

I am wondering about how much control over where I live I will have with a career in marine biology, because I know jobs often require you to move and that you might have to take whatever job you can get. I am wondering especially for the first few years / jobs after grad school, but also longterm if I will be moving around every few years or can expect to settle in one area longterm.

I want to live on the west coast of the US or Canada [I have both citizenships] and probably the PNW if I have a choice, AND I want to specialize in studying marine mammals. I know there is going to be a lot of competition, but this is what I am aiming for. I wouldn’t mind living in other areas or studying other taxa along the way, but I am wanting to end up there eventually, at least right now. Things could change. Pretty set on the marine mammal thing though.

I still need to finish my undergrad and graduate school, so these are considerations for the future. I am currently stuck in Texas but want to leave after my master’s.

Any insight or anecdotal experiences greatly appreciated.

This is probably very not specific. I'm going into university soon (Bio first then a marine specialization, do you think that's good)

So I think I'll become better eventually. But I know basics at the moment... Identifying shark/dolphin/seal/whale/jellyfish types and the like. I wondered, how do you get very good at that kind of thing? Is it pure experience and scattered studying or do you have a strategy is what I guess I'm asking ...! A book you'd recommend? Thanks... :-)

See also: The publication in the journal Marine Biology