Tag archives for Pacific Ocean
Posted by This unusual-looking creature was recently brought to the surface by a submarine exploring the deep ocean. It’s a Bathynomus giganteus, more commonly known as a giant isopod. It looks more like a bug you would find on land, but it’s related to shrimp and crabs.
Bathynomus giganteus is believed to live in the deep, cold waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It’s a scavenger, feeding on dead sea creatures such as whales.
Read more about Bathynomus giganteus on the NatGeo News Watch blog.
Did you know that trapezoid crabs help keep coral reefs alive? Get the story on National Geographic Kids.
Photograph courtesy of NOAA/OER
Alaska’s Mount Redoubt erupted six times between Sunday night and Saturday morning, sending an ash cloud 9.5 miles (15 kilometers) into the air! The eruptions also caused small earthquakes and mudflows. The volcano could keep erupting for days… weeks… or even months!
Mount Redoubt wasn’t the only recent volcano eruption. An undersea volcano in Tonga also erupted last week. Tonga is an archipelago (group of islands) in the Pacific Ocean. The eruption has sent up ash, smoke, and steam. Underwater volcanoes can build islands as the magma builds up–that’s how the Hawaiian Islands were formed.
Read more about the Mount Redoubt eruptions and see pictures on National Geographic News.
Read about the Tonga eruption on National Geographic News.
See photos of volcanoes in the Photo Gallery!
Photograph courtesy Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Fishermen and scientists have found pieces of the unusual Pacific barreleye fish in their nets since 1939, but the first photos of live, intact fish were released today. Their grayish, barrel-like fish eyes are upright tubes, which are protected by a transparent dome on the top of the head, similar to the cockpit of a fighter plane.
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Photograph by Enric Sala
In the last few days of his presidency, President George W. Bush created three new national monuments in the Pacific Ocean in the largest ocean conservation effort ever. The new monuments will protect Kingman Reef (as part of the U.S. Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument), Rose Atoll, and the Mariana Trench, which is home to Earth’s deepest spot.
All three of the protected areas are home to many species, including the giant coral colony shown in the photo above.
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