Global Ocean Network

04/30/2026

Mission Blue founder, Dr. Sylvia Earle, recently spoke with Forbes about the power of hope, the role of technology, and the urgent path forward for ocean conservation.

“You can’t care for what you don’t know.” — Sylvia A. Earle

Disconnection from the ocean remains one of the greatest barriers to protecting it. By deepening understanding and reshaping the narrative—from extraction to stewardship—we can catalyse a global movement to safeguard the systems that sustain life on Earth.

Read the full Forbes article: https://bit.ly/4mJLpHU

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📸 : Felix Kunze
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04/02/2026

04/02/2026

Thanks Gug Underwater

A collage of the rest of the B-list critters that don’t get their own post, from the productive Aliens dives off Tulamben, Bali, 2 weeks ago. Have fun zooming in!

Clockwise from top left:
Coral larvae ~2mm
Squid ~12cm
Jellyfish ~1cm diameter, who has caught a fish
Lobster puerulus ~1cm
Gooseberry ctenophore ~1cm with amphipod rider
Seahorse sp. ~4cm
Two jacks ~1cm living inside a salp
Flatworm sp. ~2cm
Larval tonguefish ~1cm without fins
Pipefish sp. ~5cm
Diamond squid ~3cm
Muave stinger jellyfish ~3cm diameter
Dragonfish ~3cm with exceptionally long gut
Crocodile toothfish ~1.5cm

03/26/2026

We love our jellyfish 🪼

Having shot this scene of a female paper nautilus octopus (aka argonaut) riding a jellyfish many times over the years, I’m always looking for that little something different - that… that… Je ne sais quoi. A few nights ago, this one was posed like “ride ‘em cowboy” on a bucking bronco🤠, clinging it to the jelly with a mere 7 or 8 suckers. Usually, they have a firm grasp on the jelly with most of their arms. Cool trivia - males don’t build a shell, and are tiny compared to females (~1/10 their size), and I find males most commonly inside salps, where they camouflage with the salp’s intestine. Females build their shell not so much to protect themselves, but rather to serve as a brooding chamber for their eggs, and this shell is far from complete.

And yes, I am beyond thrilled to say that after my initial lackluster review of Aliens diving here in Bali from back in November, this past week, we did 3 excellent nights about 1km out to sea, looking for freaks from the deep while drifting over the abyss. I still don’t have enough data to go by since I’ve only been here 6 months now, but everywhere in the world has seasonal patterns, and maybe Oct/Nov is the olives/mushrooms season 🤮 while March is the garlic/Franks Redhot season 🤤. In my estimation, I’ll need 3 years of data before I feel comfortable calling it a pattern.

03/07/2026

This isn't a manatee — it's a dugong!

Dugongs live along Indo-Pacific coastlines and have a whale-like, fluke-shaped tail, unlike the rounded, paddle-shaped one of their manatee relatives. But both mammals enjoy chowing down on vegetation like seagrass, which has earned the animals a shared nickname: sea cows! 🐮 🌱

Learn more: https://oceana.ly/4l7PrZX

03/07/2026

Among all creatures on Earth, the ocean sunfish stands out as a true giant in relative growth. Compared to its tiny larvae stage, the sunfish reaches enormous proportions faster and larger than nearly any other species in the animal kingdom.

Ocean sunfish, also called Mola mola, have a unique body shape: round, flattened, and almost disk-like. Despite starting life as larvae no bigger than a seed, they can grow to weigh over two thousand kilograms and reach lengths surpassing three meters. This extreme growth makes them one of the most remarkable examples of size transformation in nature.

The massive body of the sunfish supports its feeding strategy. Sunfish consume thousands of kilograms of jellyfish, plankton, and small fish, often traveling long distances across open oceans to find enough food. Their growth allows them to survive in a habitat filled with predators and competitors while maintaining energy efficiency.

Scientists study sunfish to understand the mechanisms behind such rapid and extreme growth. Their unique physiology, diet, and habitat provide insights into evolution, adaptation, and survival in open ocean ecosystems.

Floating gracefully near the surface or gliding through deep waters, sunfish embody the extremes of nature. Their enormous size, relative to where they begin life, is a reminder that the ocean still holds creatures capable of defying imagination.

03/07/2026

Amazing Gug Underwater

A very large juvenile diamond squid - this one measuring in at a whopping 3” - perhaps the 2nd largest I’ve ever seen! Most are in the .5 - 1.5” range. Sadly, I found it at the veeeeery end of my air supply, and as it began to descend, I was unable to follow.

Shot in the wild, using scuba, while out over the deep abyss, several miles offshore from Okinawa, Japan.

03/07/2026

Innovation with a safety purpose 💚🐳💙

03/07/2026

If I could talk to the animals
Dr. Dolittle 💚🐳💙

Sweden decoded whale language using AI — translating songs that span thousands of miles 🐋
Swedish marine biologists using advanced AI algorithms have partially decoded humpback whale communication, discovering that whale songs contain complex grammatical structures, cultural dialects, and information about ocean conditions transmitted across entire ocean basins. The research reveals whales possess one of the most sophisticated non-human communication systems on Earth.
The AI breakthrough: Machine learning analyzed 8,000 hours of whale recordings from underwater microphones spanning three oceans. The system identified recurring patterns, syntax rules, and contextual variations similar to human language. Whales use "phonemes" combined into "words" that form "sentences" with identifiable meaning.
Discoveries include: Warning calls about predators (transmitted 1,000+ km), mating advertisements containing individual "names," navigational information about food sources, and cultural songs passed down through generations with regional variations. Different whale populations have distinct "accents" similar to human dialects.
Most fascinating: Whales remember and modify songs from year to year, suggesting cultural evolution and possibly history-keeping. Some song elements remain unchanged for decades, like oral traditions.
Sweden's Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative) aims for real-time whale communication by 2027.
Source: University of Stockholm Marine Biology, Science Advances 2025

03/02/2026