HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
Fjords are some of the most beautiful features on the planet. But they may not be all that beautiful deep down. They may release as much methane into the atmosphere […]
Radio Program
Our regular Science and the Sea™ radio program presents marine science topics in an engaging two-minute story format. Our script writers gather ideas for the radio program from the University of Texas Marine Science Institute’s researchers and from our very popular college class, Introduction to Oceanography, which we teach to hundreds of non-science majors at The University of Texas at Austin every year. Our radio programs are distributed to commercial and public radio stations across the country.
HOST Science and the Sea staff
DISCUSSION
Judging by its name alone, you might expect the Pacific spiny lumpsucker to be a fearsome creature. But divers often describe the fish as cute and comical. They’re small and […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
Many dead airliners spend the afterlife in the desert—in “boneyards” where they’re stripped for spare parts and scrap metal. But a few are ending up in wetter graveyards—as artificial reefs […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
Sweetings Pond is its own watery universe. It’s on Eleuthera, an island in the Bahamas. The pond is about a mile and a half long and up to 45 feet […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
Few things are worse than a guest who just won’t leave. And lately, that appears to be the case with La Niña—a period of cooling in the Pacific Ocean that […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
When the fish markets of Chennai, India, process the daily catch, there are lots of leftovers: tails, fins, guts, and other parts—as much as a quarter to half of the […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
The Labrador Sea—a narrow body between Canada and Greenland—has been described as one of the “lungs” of the deep ocean. It absorbs oxygen from the atmosphere and deposits it deep […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
We’re all familiar with RNA viruses—or at least their effects. They cause colds, flu, measles, mumps—and COVID-19. So, you might not be thrilled to learn that scientists recently discovered 5500 […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
HMS Challenger set sail from England to study the world’s oceans on December 7th, 1872. Its accomplishments were so massive that it took 23 years and 30,000 pages to publish […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
Phiomicetus anubis would make a great subject for a science-fiction movie. Named for Egypt’s jackal-headed god of death, it was about 10 feet long, weighed about 1300 pounds, and had […]