HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
No place is safe. Trash and pollution make their way into just about every nook and cranny on Earth — including the deep oceans. A few years ago, for example, […]
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
The giant squid is one of the biggest animals in the oceans. A typical adult is 35 or 40 feet long, and some are even bigger. Yet it’s almost never […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
Melting glaciers are a big problem. As their water pours into the oceans, it raises the global sea level — a problem that will get worse in the years ahead. […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
Anyone whose quiet afternoon at the beach has been disturbed by loud boats will feel sympathy for the male oyster toadfish. Boats can overwhelm its call to females. And it […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
Blue dragons are among nature’s most efficient recyclers. But what they’re recycling, you don’t want. They absorb the stinging cells of the Portuguese man o’ war and similar creatures, then […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
The 2020 hurricane season was a mean one. It produced 30 named storms, which was a new record. Thirteen of the storms became hurricanes, which was tied for the second […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
Some small worms may be doing the world a big favor. They’re gobbling up bacteria that eat methane, a gas that contributes to global warming. Biologists discovered the worms during […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
Padre Island is perhaps best known for its visitors: spring breakers in March and April, endangered sea turtles during summer, and migrating birds in the winter. And there’s plenty of […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
Blue crabs are among the most popular seafood items in the country. Tens of millions of them are harvested from bays and estuaries every year. They account for thousands of […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
In the darkness of the deep ocean, the faintest glimmer of light can mean the difference between life and death. It can scare away prey or draw in predators. So […]