EurekAlert! Marine Science

News Releases

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 6-Jan-2026 17:11 ET (6-Jan-2026 22:11 GMT/UTC)

6-Aug-2025

Seeing with fresh eyes: Snails as a system for studying sight restoration

Stowers Institute for Medical Research
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The eye of the apple snail is unusually similar to a human eye—but, unlike human eyes, it can regrow itself if injured or even amputated. New research from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research has established the apple snail as a novel research organism to study eye regeneration, with the potential to better understand and find treatments for eye conditions in humans like macular degeneration.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

5-Aug-2025

On-board camera footage offers bird’s eye glimpse into seabird flights and feeding behaviour

Lancaster University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists have captured unique on-board footage of Indian Ocean seabirds speeding just above the waves to catch flying fish on the wing.

The footage, obtained by lightweight bird-borne cameras formed part of a study of the lives of seabirds in the waters around the remote archipelago they call home.

Two red-footed boobies - a tropical cousin of the more familiar gannet – were carefully fitted with the tiny cameras to record how they catch their favourite food; flying fish. Of 15 capture attempts, 14 were towards flying fish while in flight and one was an underwater dive.

Journal: Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
Funder: Bertarelli Foundation

5-Aug-2025

There’s something fishy going on with great white sharks that scientists can’t explain

Florida Museum of Natural History
Peer-Reviewed Publication

White sharks exhibit stark differences between the DNA in their nuclei and the DNA in their mitochondria, and the longstanding theory that explains why has just been invalidated.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation, College of Charleston, Florida Museum of Natural History

5-Aug-2025

EMBARGOED until 00:01 AEST, 6 August 2025: Great Barrier Reef more volatile with sharp declines in coral cover

Australian Institute of Marine Science
Reports and Proceedings

Hard coral cover across the Great Barrier Reef has declined substantially from the high levels of recent years back to near long-term average levels, underscoring a new level of volatility, according to the Australian Institute of Marine Science’s (AIMS) annual survey report of the Great Barrier Reef.

4-Aug-2025

Major discovery of Ice Age bones in a Norwegian cave opens a window into the past

Bournemouth University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists have uncovered the remains of a vast animal community that lived in the European Arctic 75,000 years ago.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

4-Aug-2025

Researchers discover cause of sea star wasting disease

Hakai Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Today in Nature Ecology & Evolution, a group of researchers reveals the cause of sea star wasting disease (SSWD). This discovery comes more than a decade after the start of the marine epidemic that has killed billions of sea stars—representing over 20 different species from Alaska to Mexico. SSWD is considered the largest marine epidemic ever documented in the wild.

Journal: Nature Ecology & Evolution

4-Aug-2025

New ancient marine reptile species discovered in Germany's famous Jurassic fossil beds

PeerJ
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Paleontologists have identified a new species of ancient marine reptile from Germany's world-renowned Posidonia Shale fossil beds, expanding our understanding of prehistoric ocean ecosystems that existed nearly 183 million years ago.

Journal: PeerJ

4-Aug-2025

A new wave in disaster financing: Parametric insurance for tsunami

Tohoku University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Tsunami are rare, yet incredibly devasting disasters. How can we use science to design supportive tsunami insurance plans that are cost-effective?

Journal: npj Natural Hazards

1-Aug-2025

‘Shore Wars:’ New research aims to resolve coastal conflict between oysters and mangroves, aiding restoration efforts

University of Central Florida
Peer-Reviewed Publication

To protect Florida’s coastlines, the researchers hope their new findings can initiate efforts to strike a balance within coastal ecosystems so both oysters and mangroves can flourish without harming each other. Otherwise, the mangroves could eventually dominate oyster reefs.

Journal: Marine Ecology Progress Series
Funder: Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, U.S. National Science Foundation, Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society Grants-in-Aid of Research, the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program

1-Aug-2025

Study identifies global upswing in photosynthesis driven by land, offset by oceans

Duke University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Terrestrial plants drove an increase in global photosynthesis between 2003 and 2021, a trend partially offset by a weak photosynthetic decline among marine algae, according to a new study published in Nature Climate Change on Aug. 1. The findings could inform planetary health assessments, enhance ecosystem management, and guide climate change projections and mitigation strategies.

Journal: Nature Climate Change