From President Obama designating the world’s largest marine reserve to establishing the first-ever Task Force on tackling seafood fraud, 2014 was a big year for our oceans. Oceana was there every step of the way, advocating for clean energy, traceability in the seafood supply chain, sustainable fisheries, and more. Our work led to many victories … Read more
The dugong, like all sea cows, is herbivorous. It primarily grazes on sea grasses and therefore spends most of its time in sea grass beds. Unlike the closely related manatees, the dugong never enters freshwater and is therefore the only exclusively marine mammal that is herbivorous. As in most herbivores, the dugong’s brain is very small compared to … Read more
The common dolphinfish is an open ocean predator that eats small fishes, squids, and pelagic crustaceans. It is also an important prey species for sharks, billfishes, and other large predators. Therefore, much like the skipjack tuna, the common dolphinfish plays a vital intermediate role in open ocean food webs. The males are larger than females and reach lengths of … Read more
California grunion are plankton eaters; they eat small, pelagic crustaceans and other zooplankton. Though they eat very small prey, they use their relatively large eyes and strong eyesight to attack individual prey. This strategy is in stark contrast to that used by the very large bodied filter feeders (like whale sharks and basking sharks), which essentially feed blindly … Read more
Physically, the Atlantic cod and its close relatives are noted for being the only group of fishes that have three distinct dorsal fins (along the back) and two distinct anal fins (along the ventral surface). Atlantic cod spend most of their time on or near the seafloor but may be observed feeding higher up in the … Read more
Garden eels burrow tail first into the sand, and several individuals (as many as hundreds) live close to each other, forming “gardens” of eels that sway back and forth and bob up and down like prairie dogs in order to balance their need to feed with the security that their burrows provide. The white-ring garden … Read more
The West Indian manatee, like all sea cows, is herbivorous. It primarily grazes on sea grasses and therefore spends most of its time in sea grass beds. As in most herbivores, this manatee’s brain is very small compared to its body size, likely because it does not have to develop complex hunting strategies to capture prey. It uses … Read more
Wahoo are powerful swimmers and aggressive predators that feed on a variety of schooling fishes and pelagic squids. Unlike the true tunas and the billfishes, this species does not have the ability to regulate its body temperature, but it is still one of the open ocean’s fastest fishes. When excited – particularly when hunting – wahoo often … Read more
Tropical two-wing flyingfish feed on plankton crustaceans and other small invertebrates. They have large eyes and excellent eyesight and can therefore hunt and eat individual plankton. This is in stark contrast to the very large-bodied filter feeders (like the whale shark or basking shark), which blindly filter huge volumes of water in order to obtain sufficient food. Tropical two-wing … Read more
Like sharks and rays, the chimaeras have skeletons made of cartilage rather than bone. This characteristic links those three groups of fishes and distinguishes them from the bony fishes. The spotted ratfish is a generalist predator and eats a variety of invertebrates and fishes associated with the seafloor. These include crabs, clams, and other hard-shelled prey, and the … Read more
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We have already protected nearly 4 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea life - but there is still more to be done.