Sperm whales are tracking fishing boats and stealing their fish
Fishing boats in the Gulf of Alaska are being stalked by enormous sperm whales, which charge in and rip huge volumes of fish from the lines
Seals only sleep with half their brain when they’re out at sea
Northern fur seals mostly sleep with half their brain while they’re at sea, but sleep with all their brain while on land – unlike any other animal studied
The most elusive whales reveal their secrets in their wakes
We know almost nothing about the enormous beaked whales because they spend so much time deep underwater, but a new DNA technique could unmask them
Half of life on Earth has vanished since we arrived on the scene
The biomass of living organisms on the planet has halved since human civilisation began, and humans now outweigh all wild mammals tenfold
Giant sea spiders sit and wait for prey to knock themselves out
Huge sea spiders move excruciatingly slowly, but they can still catch prey animals that move much faster than them – because their prey sometimes crash into the seafloor
Virtuoso bowhead whales constantly make up new songs
Bowhead whales are such talented singers they can make two sounds simultaneously, and they invent new songs every year
Shrimp and lobster are as bad for the climate as eating beef
Fish and seafood are normally fairly environmentally friendly, but it takes so much fuel to catch some species that their carbon footprint is as big as that of red meat
A very pregnant female ray had to fend off four courting males
Giant devil rays have been filmed courting for the first time, and it turns out the males do not even wait for the females to give birth
Why ancient deer returned to the sea and became whales
Over the last 250 million years land animals have repeatedly begun exploiting the seas, giving rise to creatures like whales and walruses. The question is why
Fish called ‘sarcastic fringehead’ has a wider mouth than body
Sarcastic fringeheads have a truly spectacular threat display: they open their mouths until they’re gaping wide, displaying two rows of teeth and fluorescent cheeks