Lisa Prowant is Ph.D. student at Stony Brook University, studying the threatened eastern box turtle. For fun, you might find this crazy reptile lover wandering the forests and fields near you in search of her favorite scaly, shelled, and legless critters. As a born and bred landlubber, I don’t usually write about ocean-related things. I … More Turtley Awesome Guest Blog
Nature can be really impressive. Take, for example, the humble snail. Many people are aware that a snail’s shell is actually it’s external skeleton, but take a moment to think about that. Could you imagine having your bones outside your skin? Even animals we associate with having protective shells, like turtles, don’t really have bones … More The Importance of the Spiral: It might just determine who you end up with
Sharks are scary. Some sharks are scary. Some sharks are scary… if you’re a fish. Or a seal. Or plankton. According to the popular press, sharks are killers – attacking anything in their path. But that’s not actually the case. In fact, the two largest sharks, the whale shark and basking shark, have tiny teeth … More Why Music Matters: Shark Edition
Sherrie Chambers is a fish biologist, shark wrangler, Ph.D. candidate, and lover of anything with fins. She studies the behavior and cognition of Port Jackson sharks at Macquarie University in Sydney. Check out their website for more information. If the thought of encountering a shark in the wild conjures up images of sinister shadows lurking beneath … More Shark Week Guest Blog: A Sharky Personality?
Michael Schrimpf is a PhD student at Stony Brook University, and studies seabird ecology. His work has taken him both to sea and to seabird colonies in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and he currently works in the Antarctic and Southern Ocean. Earlier this month scientists, birdwatchers, environmental advocates, and lots of others around the … More Guest Blog: The Wonderful World of Seabirds
There are some weird animals in the ocean. A few weeks ago, we talked about some of the strange worms of the deep. But there are some even stranger marine animals out there. Take the humble sea squirt. These sedentary, cylindrical blobs are a type of hermaphroditic animal called a tunicate. Ranging in size from … More Squirts, Salps, & Sea Pickles, Oh My!
The blue whale is the largest vertebrate to ever have lived – believed to be bigger, even, than the largest dinosaurs. But how did they get that way? Whales and their ancestors weren’t always ocean-dwelling creatures. In fact, their closest living relatives aren’t even marine species. Believe it or not, it’s the hippopotamus! But whales … More The Tale of the Whale: How did they get so big?
Here at Kraken, we talk about the environment a lot. But today, we don’t want to only talk about it. We want our readers to experience it. So this World Environment Day, take a moment to step away from your computers and phones. Appreciate the world around you. Connect with nature. And if you need … More Connect with Nature – It’s World Environment Day!
Shannon Hulst Jarbeau is a Certified Floodplain Manager with the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension / Woods Hole Sea Grant, and recipient of the 2017 James Lee Witt Local Award for Excellence in Floodplain Management from the national Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM). She provides technical assistance on floodplain and coastal management issues, with a … More Guest Blog: What’s the Deal with Sea Level Rise?
I’m about to tell you a secret. I hate snakes and worms. No, actually, hate isn’t a strong enough term. I passionately abhor them. Rationally, as a biologist, I understand their important role in ecosystems. But irrationally, there’s something about a creature with no appendages that really disgusts me. That being said, there are some … More The Weird and Wonderful World of Marine Worms
Kraken & Friends 