Science and the Sea

Dolphin vs. Porpoise – July 16, 2017

HOST Damond Benningfield

DISCUSSION

Dolphins and porpoises are among the smartest and most beautiful creatures on the planet. And they’re also among the most popular. Even so, most of us can’t tell dolphins and […]

Deep Trouble – July 9, 2017

HOST Damond Benningfield

DISCUSSION

Life in the deep ocean could be headed for deep trouble. The food supply could shrink dramatically, starving many of the organisms that live on the ocean floor. Living in […]

Raising Pigfish – July 2, 2017

HOST Damond Benningfield

DISCUSSION

The pigfish isn’t high on anyone’s list of good eating. Even so, it’s a popular purchase along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. That’s because the pigfish makes great bait for […]

Longhorns – June 25, 2017

HOST Damond Benningfield

DISCUSSION

It may never serve as the mascot for a football team, but the longhorn boxfish still grabs your attention, because two pairs of horns extend from its body. One pair […]

Old Crust – June 18, 2017

HOST Damond Benningfield

DISCUSSION

The crust at the bottom of the oceans is dense, heavy, and tough. Even so, it disappears in a hurry — it’s pulled into the layer below the crust, where […]

Restored Reef – June 11, 2017

HOST Damond Benningfield

DISCUSSION

If you build it, they will come. That’s been the case with an oyster reef along the Texas coast. The once-thriving reef had died out, but a recent restoration project […]

Catching a Breeze – June 4, 2017

HOST Damond Benningfield

DISCUSSION

New wind-power turbines are popping up off the European coast so quickly these days that it’s hard to keep track of them. By the middle of 2016, more than 3300 […]

Sick Days – May 28, 2017

HOST Damond Benningfield

DISCUSSION

We all know that El Niño can have a big impact on the United States. It generally brings cooler, wetter weather to the southwest and the Gulf coast, and drier […]

Developing Sonar – May 21, 2017

HOST Damond Benningfield

DISCUSSION

In the early months of World War I, German submarines were sinking Allied shipping at an alarming rate. There was no way to detect the U-boats when they were submerged, […]

Marine Monument – May 14, 2017

HOST Damond Benningfield

DISCUSSION

A new national monument is a wonderland of mountains, canyons, and wildlife. Few will ever see it directly, though, because it’s thousands of feet below the surface of the Atlantic […]