HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
During the Irish potato famines of the 19th century, many people survived by eating limpets—small animals that cling to rocks at the ocean’s edge. And when German troops occupied the […]
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 Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
What happens in the Arctic doesn’t always stay in the Arctic. Changes in conditions in the Arctic Ocean can have an impact on land as well. A loss of sea […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
Davidson Seamount—an extinct underwater volcano off the coast of California—has been described as “an oasis of the deep.” It’s home to huge coral reefs—some of them more than a century […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
In the 1958 B-movie “The Blob,” Steve McQueen and the gang stop the blobby monster from absorbing people by freezing it. The Air Force then drops it on Arctic sea […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
Big heat waves are hotter, more common, and cause more suffering than ever—and not just on land. Marine heat waves are a problem as well. Eight of the 10 largest […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
The White’s seahorse could be forgiven for feeling unwelcome. The seahorse is found mainly along the eastern coast of Australia. In the last couple of decades, though, its population has […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
The Steller sea lion used to be a common sight along the Pacific coast, from Alaska to California. But for some reason, the sea lion’s population plunged. So in 1990, […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
Nature doesn’t always work in ways that seem to make sense—at least at first glance. You might expect, for example, that as giant whales disappeared from the Southern Ocean during […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
The tusk of a narwhal has a lot of uses. It may help the whale attract a mate, sense prey, and stun its prey. It inspired folktales of unicorns. And […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
The groups that rescue and treat sick or injured sea turtles take advantage of a lot of modern science: the latest medications, CAT scans, laser surgery, and much more. But […]