Science and the Sea Podcast

The University of Texas Marine Science Institute
  • 4.9 (15)
  • Natural Sciences
  • Updated Biweekly

The goal of Science and the Sea is to convey an understanding of the sea and its myriad life forms to everyone, so that they, too, can fully appreciate this amazing resource.

Episodes

  1. 1d ago

    Sea Potatoes

    If you dig into the sand below the tide line along many of the world’s beaches, there’s a chance you’ll dig up some potatoes. They’re small, fuzzy, and fragile. But they’re not the kind of spuds you serve with butter and sour cream. Instead, they’re sea potatoes—a type of sea urchin—smaller cousins of the ones with long, painful spines. A typical sea potato is maybe two or three inches long. It’s encased in a thin shell, known as a test. The shell is shaped a bit like a heart—hence the potato’s other name, heart urchin. A pattern on one side of the shell forms the outline of a sea star—another of the sea potato’s relatives. Soon after it hatches, a sea potato burrows a few inches into the sand at the bottom of shallow coastal waters. It then spends the rest of its life there. It excavates a small “den,” with side pockets for air and wastes. The den is lined with a layer of mucus. Small, yellow hair-like spines lie flat against the sea potato’s back. They trap air so the animal doesn’t drown. “Tube feet” push it through the sediments at about an inch per day. As it moves, the critter funnels the sand into its mouth. Its digestive system then filters out the goodies—algae, the remains of dead animals, and nutrients from the sand itself. The shells of thousands of dead sea potatoes sometimes wash up on the beach—the result of extreme weather or some other big shock. Otherwise, they’re seldom seen—hidden in the sand just off-shore. The post Sea Potatoes appeared first on Marine Science Institute. The University of Texas at Austin.. ]]>

  2. Sep 6

    Changing Pace

    Big tropical storms are slowing down in a hurry. If that sounds a little contradictory, think of it this way: More storms are slamming on the brakes as they get close to land. As a result, they spend more time along the coast before they move inland, making them even more dangerous. Researchers poked through records of tropical cyclones across the globe from 1982 to 2023. They were looking for “rapid slowdown” events—storms that slowed their forward motion by a significant amount in just a few hours. They found that the rate of such events over the open ocean hadn’t changed much over that time. But for storms within about 250 miles of shore, the rate had gone way up. For storms that slowed by about five miles per hour over a period of six hours or less, the rate quadrupled—from fewer than five events per year to about 20. And there was a link between storms that slowed down quickly and those that strengthened quickly. The combination creates longer-lasting storm surges, winds, and rains—a killer combination. The number of these events was especially high in the western Pacific Ocean and the southern Indian Ocean. The number was lower in North America. The researchers said that part of the change could be caused by a natural climate cycle in the Pacific. But most of it likely is powered by human-caused climate change. It’s heating the oceans and altering circulation patterns in both air and sea—making some big storms slow down in a hurry. The post Changing Pace appeared first on Marine Science Institute. The University of Texas at Austin.. ]]>

  3. Aug 30

    Seal Singers

    “Twinkle, twinkle, little star” might not seem like an especially romantic song. Apparently, though, it works for male leopard seals. During the mating season, East Antarctic leopard seals sing underwater for hours on end. The songs resemble the structure of children’s nursery rhymes. Leopard seals are named for the leopard-like spots on their coats. An adult male weighs about 700 pounds. Much of a seal’s diet consists of organisms known as krill. But they also eat penguins, fish, squid, and even the pups of other seal species. The seals mate during the southern-hemisphere spring and summer. But the animals are widely spread, so finding a partner isn’t easy. And that’s where the songs come in. The songs are made of five patterns—like five musical notes. Every seal puts those notes together in his own way. So every male seal has a unique tune. During mating season, they belt out that tune for up to 13 hours a day. They sing for several minutes, pop to the surface for a breath, then head down for another verse. Scientists in Australia have been listening to seals in Antarctica since the 1990s. In a recent study, they compared the structure of the songs to several types of human music. The best match was to children’s songs based on nursery rhymes. They’re simple, repetitive, and easy to remember. Under water, the tunes can carry a long way. So a seal may attract a distant mate by constantly crooning his own lullaby. The post Seal Singers appeared first on Marine Science Institute. The University of Texas at Austin.. ]]>

  4. Aug 23

    Freshening Up

    Part of the Indian Ocean has been freshening up a bit. Water at its surface is getting less salty—a result of climate change. That could impact everything from the health of fisheries to the severity of winters in Europe. Researchers combed through decades of records of the southeastern Indian Ocean, off the coast of Australia. They also looked at changes in global winds and ocean currents over the same period. They found that the ocean’s top 600 feet or so has become much less salty since 1960. The change was like adding more than half the water of Lake Tahoe to the region every year. The “freshening” is driven by changes in winds and ocean currents. More water is being pushed into the region from the Indo-Pacific Freshwater Pool—a huge area with especially low salinity. And the trend is expected to continue in the years ahead. Currents carry the warmer, lighter fresh water from the Indian Ocean into the Atlantic. It flows past western Europe, keeping the climate mild. But changes in the amount and location of the fresh water could alter the currents that carry it. The freshwater layer can block water from the deep ocean from reaching the surface. Deeper waters hold more nutrients, which feed the tiny surface organisms that form the base of the marine food web. That could change fisheries and cause other difficulties. So “freshening up” could be a problem for life both in and around the Indian Ocean, and far beyond. The post Freshening Up appeared first on Marine Science Institute. The University of Texas at Austin.. ]]>

  5. Aug 16

    Unicornfish

    Unicorns graze among many of the world’s coral reefs. But instead of the graceful animals of mythology, they look more like cartoon characters. Their “horns” can be long, short, or even round and fat. And some have no horn at all. These creatures are unicornfish. Biologists have identified about 20 species of them. They’re a type of surgeonfish—named for some scalpel-sharp spikes where the body and tail join. The adults of most species range from about one to two feet in length. Unicornfish are found in tropical waters in much of the Indian and Pacific oceans—from the east coast of Africa to Hawaii. They generally live on coral reefs. Many of them eat algae—sometimes scraping it off the coral. Others eat tiny marine creatures. They feed during the day, then hide in cracks and cubbyholes in the coral at night. Most unicornfish are bright and colorful, and many have prominent stripes or other patterns. What sets them apart, though, are the horns, which are found in about half of the unicornfish species. The horns come in a variety of shapes and sizes. In some species, both males and females have horns. But in a few, it’s only the males. The guys may use the horns to attract mates. In some species, the males can change the color of both the horn and other parts of the body, making the horn stand out—perhaps a signal that he’s a strong mate. The males may also use the horns to chase off competition—protecting their own little patch of the reef. The post Unicornfish appeared first on Marine Science Institute. The University of Texas at Austin.. ]]>

  6. Aug 9

    Land Vs. Sea

    The oceans provide the “fuel” for almost all the thunderstorms on Earth: water that evaporates from the ocean surface. But the oceans generally don’t provide the “trigger” for the big storms. As one indication of the difference, about 90 percent of all lightning happens over land. A thunderstorm forms when warm, humid air rises high into the atmosphere and condenses to make clouds. The humidity comes from the oceans. Storms in the Great Plains, for example, are fed by water vapor from the Gulf of Mexico. And the summer monsoon in the Southwest is fed by the Gulf of California. But the storms need a strong source of heat to get the water vapor to rise high enough to form clouds. During the warm portion of the year, the land gets hotter than the oceans. There’s also a bigger contrast on land—some areas heat up more quickly, so they’re more likely to start building the clouds. Terrain also plays an important role—mountains can push air upward. In contrast, the oceans are more stable, so there’s not much to trigger big storms. Oceans do outperform the land in one way, though—they produce more “superbolts” of lightning. Such bolts can be a thousand times more powerful than a typical discharge. That appears to be because the salt content makes ocean water a better conductor of electricity than soil or fresh water. So when a thunderstorm does form over the ocean, it’s much more likely to produce a really spectacular light show. The post Land Vs. Sea appeared first on Marine Science Institute. The University of Texas at Austin.. ]]>

  7. Aug 2

    Ancient Giant

    At the time of the dinosaurs, the oceans were filled with lots of big, scary creatures. The biggest and scariest might have been some king-sized ancestors of the modern octopus. Some recent research says these monsters could have been as long as a big-rig truck. And they would have been smart—critters you wouldn’t want to see in the flesh. Scientists looked at the fossilized jawbones of 15 specimens that were already known. And they used a sophisticated imaging technique plus AI to scan a dozen others that hadn’t been recognized as octopus relatives. All of the fossils were found in Japan or on Canada’s Pacific coast. The octopuses lived between 72 million and 100 million years ago. To determine the size of the creatures, the scientists compared the jawbones to those of modern octopuses. They found that the old guys comprised two species. The largest of them could have reached more than 60 feet long. The scientists also found that most of the jawbones were chipped and eroded—they’d lost up to a tenth of their original volume. That means the creatures used their jaws to crack the shells and bones of lots of smaller prey. Many of the jaws were eroded more on one side than the other. That suggests the octopuses preferred to use one side of their body more than the other—just as people prefer one hand over the other. That’s considered a sign of intelligence. So these smart, giant creatures could have been the top ocean predators in the age of the dinosaurs. The post Ancient Giant appeared first on Marine Science Institute. The University of Texas at Austin.. ]]>

  8. Jul 26

    Stirring Things Up

    Big ships can really stir things up—especially in shallow coastal waters. A ship’s wake can extend far below the vessel. It creates turbulence that mixes up the water. It can even extend into the sediments on the sea floor. And that can release a lot of methane—a gas that’s much more efficient than carbon dioxide at warming the atmosphere. Researchers discovered the connection between ships and methane releases more than a decade ago. They were studying shipping in Neva Bay, a shallow extension of the Baltic Sea on the northwestern coast of Russia. It’s home to Saint Petersburg, which has a busy port. The researchers found that many ships cruising in the bay produced two bursts of methane. One came from the ship itself—from burning fossil fuels. The other came later, and wasn’t produced by the engines. Scientists recently took another look at the observations. And they combined them with models of how a ship’s wake churns the water, and how bubbles of methane in the sediments make their way into the air. They concluded that the wakes were stirring up the sediments. That released bubbles of methane, which floated to the surface, then into the air. There was a 20-fold increase in the amount of methane above the shipping lanes compared to the surrounding area. Many of the world’s largest ports are built along similar coastal environments. So the churning action of passing ships could add more methane to the air every year. The post Stirring Things Up appeared first on Marine Science Institute. The University of Texas at Austin.. ]]>

  9. Jul 12

    Bloomin’ Quakes

    It’s hard to think of anything good coming from earthquakes. But for life in part of the Southern Ocean, they could be crucial. A recent study found that underwater quakes could intensify “blooms” of phytoplankton. These tiny plant-like organisms form the base of the marine food web. They also absorb carbon dioxide from the air, and release oxygen. So anything that bumps up their numbers a bit is good for life in the Southern Ocean and around the planet. Every spring and summer, a big bloom develops between Antarctica and New Zealand and Australia. But three decades of satellite photos revealed a huge range in the size of the bloom. Some years, it covers an area the size of Delaware. In others, it can be dozens of times larger—as big as California. The blooms are fed by iron—a key nutrient. But there’s not a lot of it in the Southern Ocean. And the location of the annual bloom isn’t near any of the most common sources of iron. So researchers looked for a “deeper” cause. They found that the bloom occurs in a region with lots of underwater volcanoes. “Vents” pump hot, iron-rich fluids into the water—possibly feeding the bloom. Records of volcanic activity in the region showed that, when the ocean floor was rocked by earthquakes of magnitude five or greater in the months before a bloom, the event was much bigger. The tremors might clear out blocked vents, or create new ones, boosting the amount of iron in the water—a positive impact for earthquakes. The post Bloomin’ Quakes appeared first on Marine Science Institute. The University of Texas at Austin.. ]]>

  • 9 Episodes

Ratings & Reviews

4.9
out of 5
15 Ratings

About

The goal of Science and the Sea is to convey an understanding of the sea and its myriad life forms to everyone, so that they, too, can fully appreciate this amazing resource.

Information

  • Creator
    The University of Texas Marine Science Institute
  • Years Active
    2015 - 2026
  • Episodes
    9
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026
  • Show Website
    Science and the Sea Podcast

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