X-Ray Mag

Latest

Swimming with dolphins
Swimming with and learning from dolphins

Learning the swimming secrets of dolphins and whales

4 years ago By Annie Won

This scenario may one day become reality. And to be efficient, such robots would need to be maneuverable and stealthy, and be able to closely mimic the movements of the marine creatures.

Scientists like Keith W. Moored are working on the next generation of underwater robots by studying the movements of dolphins and whales. "We're studying how these animals are designed and what's beneficial about that design in terms of their swimming performance, or the fluid mechanics of how they swim."

Researchers find deep-sea coral gardens off Western Australia

4 years ago By Chief minion

Widely known as a biodiversity hotspot for marine animals, Australia’s Bremer Canyon Marine Park has been found to also host rich, diverse ecosystems within the canyon’s cold waters.

This discovery was made during a scientific expedition after researchers used a deep-sea remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to collect samples of deep-sea corals, associated fauna, seawater and geological samples from the abyssal depths to the continental shelf.

Grand Bahama Island Bounces Back as a Popular Destination for Divers

4 years ago By Matthew Meier

Ian Rolle, Acting Chairman of the Grand Bahama Island Tourism Board (GBITB), reports that the island and its reefs fared well during Hurricane Dorian. “Three weeks after the hurricane, a crew from UNEXSO, our leading underwater experts, went on an exploratory dive of the reefs stretching along the south shore of the island, from the Grand Lucayan Water Way all the way to Silver Point Reef. At that time, it was discovered that all the reef structures were in standing positions and the wrecks were in the same location and status as before the storm,” noted Rolle.

Ghost Diving, Ghost Fishing, Pascal van Erp, Rosemary E Lunn, Roz Lunn, Baltictech, XRay Mag, X-Ray Magazine, Immi Wallin, OceanPositive, Fourth Element, Jim Standing

The 'Ghost Fishing' organisation puts divers centre stage

4 years ago By Rosemary E Lunn

It was delivered by a very tall, quiet Dutchman by the name of Pascal van Erp. Pascal explained how he had started to recover abandoned ghost fishing gear entangled on wrecks in 2009. He soon inspired others to join him. It was not long before organised teams of volunteer technical divers were recovering tons of ghost fishing gear off the Dutch coastline. In 2012, Van Erp formally founded the not-for-profit Ghost Fishing organisation.

Ghost fishing—a lost or abandoned net or other fishing equipment that is snagged on a reef or wreck—continues to trap marine wildlife.

Sperm whales off Dominica. The sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) or cachalot is the largest of the toothed whales

2016 New Zealand quake disrupted sperm whales' foraging behaviour

4 years ago By Annie Won

In November 2016, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in New Zealand triggered underwater mudslides in the underwater canyon off the coastline. This led to high-velocity currents to flush 850 tonnes of sediment from the canyon into the ocean.

This "canyon flushing" caused what was once a diverse ecosystem of invertebrates along the Kaikoura underwater canyon to become as "quiet as a desert."

A paper in the Deep Sea Research Part I journal describes how sperm whales were subsequently affected by the quake and how they changed their foraging habits as a result.