Marine Blog Recommendations

I’m sure many readers would like to learn more about what’s going on in the world of marine science, but it can be hard to know where to start. With a sea (pun intended) of knowledge out there, one might find themself overwhelmed. In this post I will share two wordpress blogs that I would recommend following to keep you updated on all things marine, from fun ocean stories to scientific papers!  

Oceanwire

^{Image from Oceanwire’s Pic o’ the Week: Brittle Stars on Moon Jelly post. Original photograph taken by Andrea Marshall.}

This blog is a great place for beginners to learn about interesting phenomena of the ocean and look at cute pictures of sea creatures! Oceanwire, founded by a former NOAA fellow and Yale graduate, is extremely user-friendly. Its content is split up into a variety of categories including Notable Ocean Quotables, where profound quotes about the importance of the ocean are shared, and Ocean Pollution, where the efforts of environmental activists are highlighted. Meanwhile, the Spotlight category shares unique ocean news, from bioluminescent squids to ocean exploration day (two posts I would strongly recommend checking out). Another section, Pic o’ the Week, features (semi) weekly, high resolution photos of amazing marine life with brief descriptions. Some posts, especially in the Pic o’ the Week category, have little to no text, providing just images and links to other sites for more information. One of my favorite things about this blog is its reliability. Every post has in-text links taking you directly to the source of the information. Another plus is how short the posts are, perfect for more casual blog-enjoyers who want a quick dose of the ocean!

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Ocean Acidification

^{Image from the OA-ICC’s Our Methods page. Photo credit: “Sea Urchins” by robynejay is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.}  

Although this blog is on wordpress, the posts are actually a news stream from the Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre (OA-ICC), linking to their website. This website gathers its material by filtering through major science journals, ensuring that every post is reliable. Even though the blog’s content is focused on ocean acidification, its posts cover an extremely wide range of topics including physical, biological, economic, and even political effects. Most posts link to scientific papers, but there are also some for a more general audience. For example, The threat of ocean acidification: what you need to know (audio & video) provides a great introduction to ocean acidification and its extensive effects for those who are new to the topic, through an engaging video. Another post I would recommend checking out is The evolution of coral reef under changing climate: a scientometric review. The research paper linked to this post gives a thorough summary of previous research pertaining to the effects of climate change on coral reefs. Overall, this blog is more suited for readers who want to understand the nitty gritty of marine chemistry and possibly already have some background knowledge, but it can be beneficial even to casual readers who want to know what current research is happening. 

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