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

    Drying Out

    The Panama Canal links the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean beyond. With all that water around it, it’s hard to imagine the canal running low. But that’s happened several times in recent years. And it could happen more often in the decades ahead—a result of our warming climate. The canal is crucial to the global economy. For ships traveling between the east and west coasts of the United States, it cuts the journey by about 9,000 miles and many days. On average, about 35 big ships pass through it every day. But in 2023 and ’24, the number was cut to as few as 24 per day. Ships were stacked up on both ends of the canal—stranded by historic drought conditions. Ships pass through a series of locks that lift them over higher ground in the middle of Panama. The locks are fed mainly by a large freshwater lake. Each passage uses tens of millions of gallons, most of which empties into the ocean. The drought was triggered in part by El Niño, which warms the eastern Pacific. It blocks rainfall over Panama, while increasing evaporation. As the climate warms, El Niño-like conditions may become more common. A recent study found that additional warming might make canal operations even tougher. And under a worst-case scenario, major droughts could become common—turning the Panama Canal into a major bottleneck. The canal’s operators are planning to build a new lake to boost the water supply—hedging their bets against warmer days ahead. The post Drying Out appeared first on Marine Science Institute. The University of Texas at Austin.. ]]>

    2 min

  2. May 24

    Social Swimmers

    If you go walking with a friend, the odds are that your preferred walking speeds won’t be the same. So the person who usually walks faster probably will slow down a little. That person might not hit their preferred heart rate, but being sociable is more important. And the same thing might apply to some fish. They appear to adjust their swimming speed to stick with others of their kind. That might not be their optimal speed, but it’s one that provides other benefits. Fish that migrate over great distances maintain a “Goldilocks” pace as they go. It’s fast enough to get them where they want to go in a reasonable time. But it’s not so fast that they’re worn out by the swim, or can’t mount a quick burst if they face danger. But fish that hang out close to shore and don’t migrate tend to vary their speed a lot, depending on what they’re doing. They might need to change pace to avoid obstacles on the sea floor, to catch prey, or to woo potential mates. And they might just want to hang around with others—a strategy that might make life safer or easier. Researchers recently studied a type of surfperch caught off the coast of Washington. They studied the swimming habits of the fish in the lab. They put pairs of fish in a contraption that’s the marine equivalent of a treadmill. And they found that if one member of a pair was faster than the other, it didn’t just pull away. Instead, it slowed down to stay with its companion—just keeping things sociable. The post Social Swimmers appeared first on Marine Science Institute. The University of Texas at Austin.. ]]>

    2 min

  3. May 17

    Whale Breath

    Sniffing a whale’s breath doesn’t sound all that appealing. But a recent study suggested that a good sniff could help scientists analyze a whale’s health. The study looked at North Atlantic right whales—among the most endangered of all whales. In fact, they’re called “right” whales because they were just right for whalers: they’re slow, they stay close to shore, and they have a lot of blubber, so they float after they’re killed and they yield a lot of oil. By the early 1900s, they’d been hunted to near extinction; the population might have dropped to just a hundred or so. Today, the population has rebounded to about four hundred. Scientists are trying to find ways to protect those whales and help the species grow. One way to do that is to keep a close eye on the health of the whales. And that’s what the study was all about. Scientists watched whales in Cape Cod Bay, in Massachusetts, during the spring foraging seasons from 2016 to 2024. Drones carrying petri dishes hovered above the whales’ blow holes. When a whale exhaled, the drone snagged a sample. Scientists then analyzed the microbes in the whale’s breath. They compared those samples to other measures of the whale’s health.             They found that healthier whales had higher levels of helpful bacteria in their breath. Less-healthy whales had higher levels of nasty bacteria. The study suggests that it might be possible to measure the health of a right whale just by sniffing its breath. The post Whale Breath appeared first on Marine Science Institute. The University of Texas at Austin.. ]]>

    2 min

  4. May 10

    Raindrops

    Listening to the rhythm of the falling rain is one of life’s simple pleasures—and an inspiration for music, poetry, and much more. And in recent years, it’s become a source of knowledge for scientists who study our changing climate. They’re listening to the rain as it falls on the ocean, providing a more complete picture of Earth’s water cycle. Water evaporates from the ocean surface. It forms clouds, which produce rainfall over land or other parts of the ocean. This cycle can be changed by Earth’s warming climate. Understanding just how it changes requires a detailed knowledge of ocean rainfall—where, how much, and how fast. But there aren’t many rain gauges in the open ocean, so rainfall is hard to track. Satellites provide some help, but they can’t see the entire ocean surface at once. So scientists have started listening to the rain. That reveals where the rain is falling, and the length of each storm or shower. It also reveals the intensity of the rain, because different rainfall rates and raindrop sizes produce their own distinctive sounds. Scientists have placed microphones on existing instrument packages. Some of them are anchored to the ocean floor. Others bob up and down through the water column, sampling conditions from the surface down to thousands of feet. Test runs have provided good results. So there are plans to expand the research to thousands of platforms—listening to the patter of raindrops throughout the world’s oceans. The post Raindrops appeared first on Marine Science Institute. The University of Texas at Austin.. ]]>

    2 min

  5. May 3

    ‘Seeping’ Fish

    For most marine life, methane seeps are nasty. Toxic compounds bubble into the ocean from below the sea floor. But life always seems to find a way. Microscopic organisms thrive on the noxious brew. They feed a vibrant ecosystem. And research in recent years has found that the population includes fish that are popular on human dinner plates. Methane seeps occur where pockets of methane create mounds on the ocean floor. Cracks and pores allow some of the gas to escape. Microbes feed on the gas. Larger organisms eat the microbes and so on, building a complex food web. Among the main creatures around the seeps are tubeworms, which can form dense beds. And surveys have found several commercially important fish living in or near the beds. That includes a type of rockfish off the West Coast of the United States, and Chilean seabass off the Pacific coast of South America. The most recent addition is the red cusk eel. It’s not an actual eel, but it’s long and skinny like an eel. It’s popular in Chilean markets and restaurants. Fishers took more than 2,000 tons of the cusk eel in 2022.             An expedition in late 2024 found a large population of the fish at a seep about 10 miles off the coast of Chile. The fish were nestled in a large bed of tubeworms. They might have been using the beds to hide from predators. Or they might have been getting some grooming from snow crabs there. Whatever the reason, the fish were doing just fine in this nasty environment. The post ‘Seeping’ Fish appeared first on Marine Science Institute. The University of Texas at Austin.. ]]>

    2 min

  6. Apr 26

    Gassy Microbes

    Some microscopic organisms can live just about anywhere. They can survive extreme temperatures and pressures, total darkness, and environments that are infused with nasty chemicals. Some of them produce methane, which can have a big impact on the climate. And they can tell us a lot about the development of life. Examples include two species recently found in the Pacific Ocean. They’re types of archaea—descendants of some of the oldest life on Earth. The research team was led by a marine scientist at the University of Texas. The team examined sediments drilled from hundreds of feet below the sea floor. The deepest sediments were 1.7 million years old. The researchers studied the chemistry of the sediments, and they used genetics technology to suss out the types of organisms. The archaea survive by eating ancient organic matter in the sediments. They produce methane. In fact, much of the world’s methane has been made by similar organisms. Methane can form pockets below the ocean floor. The methane can seep out and bubble to the surface. It’s a potent greenhouse gas that traps heat, so once it’s in the atmosphere it can cause major climate changes. Studying these organisms can tell us more about how and where methane is produced, and about possible future climate impacts. Similar environments might exist on some of the moons in our own solar system. So a better understanding of the archaea on Earth could help us find signs of life on other worlds. The post Gassy Microbes appeared first on Marine Science Institute. The University of Texas at Austin.. ]]>

    2 min

  7. Apr 19

    Pacific Migration

    People have traveled far across the oceans in search of greener pastures. Polynesians journeyed thousands of miles, hopping from island to island as they expanded eastward. And one period of expansion might have been triggered by big changes in the Pacific Ocean. That period began about a thousand years ago. People were well entrenched in Western Polynesia—islands such as Tonga and Samoa. But they quickly turned up in Eastern Polynesia—Tahiti and surrounding islands—journeys of up to 1500 miles or longer across open ocean. A recent study looked at climate conditions across Polynesia at the time. Researchers gathered deep sediments from several locations. They used sophisticated lab techniques to analyze the fat in leaves preserved in the soil. That revealed how rainy the climate was at the time the plants were growing. The scientists combined that with other climate information, and ran it all through models of the climate at the time. They found that the rain began to dry up in Western Polynesia. But it got heavier in Eastern Polynesia. That probably was the result of a change in the South Pacific Convergence Zone—a wide region that produces heavy rains during the summer. Changes in ocean temperatures pushed the zone eastward. The change also would have made the winds more favorable for moving eastward. So the people of Western Polynesia could have headed out—looking for greener pastures far across the Pacific. The post Pacific Migration appeared first on Marine Science Institute. The University of Texas at Austin.. ]]>

    2 min

  8. Apr 12

    Vanishing Viruses

    For anyone who’s ever had a cold, the flu, or any other illness caused by a virus, getting rid of viruses might sound like a good idea. But many viruses play important roles in the environment. That includes marine viruses. They recycle nutrients, and can help control other microscopic organisms. So it’s good to keep them around. But in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea, viruses are disappearing in a hurry. The drop corresponds to changes in the sea caused by Earth’s warming climate. Marine scientists have been keeping tabs on Blanes Bay since the early two-thousands. It’s on the coast of Spain, about 40 miles from Barcelona. An observatory there monitors the temperature, salinity, and clarity of the water. And it samples the water once a month. Lab work reveals the amounts of nutrients and other compounds in the water, along with the populations of bacteria and viruses. Scientists recently used several techniques to analyze the observations from 2005 to 2022. The work showed that the virus population remained steady until about 2011. But since then the population has gone down dramatically. At the same time, the water has gotten warmer. That suggests the viruses are being thinned out by climate change. Reducing the virus population could impact the amount of nutrients in the water, making the region less productive. That could hurt the fishing industry. So the lack of viruses could actually harm the people along the Mediterranean coast. The post Vanishing Viruses appeared first on Marine Science Institute. The University of Texas at Austin.. ]]>

    2 min

  9. Apr 5

    Fish Antifreeze

    The oceans near the poles are cold—really cold. Because of the salt content, water temperatures can remain below freezing for most or all of the year. And that can be bad for life. Ice crystals can develop in the blood and other fluids, destroying cells. Yet many species of fish thrive in these frigid environments. In part, that’s because they produce proteins that work like antifreeze. Inspired by those fish, researchers have developed a synthetic version of the proteins. The “mimics,” as they’re called, could prevent medications that have to be kept cold from freezing. They also could be used to prevent the formation of ice crystals in many other products. Earlier studies nailed down the details of the fish proteins. Whenever a crystal begins to form, the proteins wrap it up. They change the structure of the crystal, keep it from getting any bigger, and lower the freezing temperature. That combo prevents the cold from damaging cells. Researchers isolated the key features of the proteins, then found a way to replicate them in the lab. They tested their brew in living cells. It protected the cells from freezing, and it wasn’t toxic. It also wasn’t a problem for the bacteria in the human digestive system. The researchers say their antifreeze can be manufactured easily and inexpensively. So it could make it easier to store and ship some medications, and extend the shelf-life of ice cream and other frozen foods—a gift from some cold, cold fish. The post Fish Antifreeze appeared first on Marine Science Institute. The University of Texas at Austin.. ]]>

    2 min

  10. Mar 29

    Sharing Orcas

    Cats sometimes drop food at their owner’s front door—lizards, mice, or other small prey. A recent study found that killer whales sometimes offer food to people as well. But the reason for that sharing is unclear. Orcas are social animals. They hunt together, they play, and they share their food. And they’re often found around people. They swim along with boats and divers, and they’ve even hunted with human fishers. In a recent study, scientists compiled reports of orcas sharing food with people on boats, in the water, or on shore. They found 34 examples, including some from their own experience. Many of the events were photographed or caught on video. To qualify for the study, a whale had to approach the people, not the other way around. It had to get close before releasing the food. And it couldn’t take the food back right away—it had to wait for a response from the people. The sharing orcas included males and females, of all ages. Sometimes a single whale made the offer, but sometimes it was two or more. They offered fish, birds, mammals, and other treats. They sometimes waited minutes for a response. And if the human didn’t snatch the food, or gave it back, the whale sometimes offered it again. The researchers said there could be several reasons for the sharing. It could be a way to communicate or to learn more about the people. It could simply be a way of playing. Or it could be a way to lure the people in—a not-so-friendly way of sharing. The post Sharing Orcas appeared first on Marine Science Institute. The University of Texas at Austin.. ]]>

    2 min
  • 10 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
    10
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026
  • Show Website
    Science and the Sea Podcast

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