Sometimes coming in second can feel like missing out, but for the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) being the second largest mammal on earth is an impressive place to be. Weighing in at 120,000 kg, and reaching up to 27 meters in length, the fin whale is an elegant second in size to its cousin, the …
On a mild but windy day a fishing boat moves across the Mediterranean Sea, when, suddenly, a flock of tiny, dark birds seem to appear from nowhere. Storm petrels! Ancient myths warn that these birds predict an oncoming storm, but their rapid appearance likely has more to do with their reliance on wind currents and …
Small and Mighty: The Mediterranean Storm Petrel Read More »
A fish that flies, walks, and of course swims, Dactylopterus volitans is a fish of many talents—and some confusion. Both its common name, flying gurnard, and its species name (volitans refers in Latin to flying), imply that Dactylopterus volitans might be a member of the flying fish family (Exocoetidae). But flying gurnards cannot leap out …
Resting quietly on the sea floor, its elegant body flattened and camouflaged, Aetomylaeus bovinus seems to disappear in the shadows. But as it lifts in the water column, sweeping up its wide pectoral fins, its long tail trailing behind, this graceful member of the eagle ray family is hard to forget. Aetomylaeus bovinus, commonly known …
Aetomylaeus bovinus (the duck-bill eagle ray or bull ray) Read More »
For thousands of years humans have sought immortality, while quietly, deep on the seafloor, an inconspicuous, dime-sized jellyfish may have held the secret all along. Turritopsis dohrnii, popularly known as the immortal jellyfish, was first documented in the Mediterranean in the 1880s. But another 100 years passed before people began to realize that there was …
Loggerheads and Greens are the most common sea turtles in the Mediterranean. Some are visitors from the Atlantic, but the turtles that hatch along Mediterranean shores are from distinct subpopulations. While most nesting occurs in the eastern basin, both visiting and native subpopulations travel and forage throughout the Mediterranean. Loggerheads are the most frequently found …
