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The Coastal Naturalist

A science-grounded voice explaining the ecology, marine biology, and natural systems of the Andaman coast

47 articles

Articles by The Coastal Naturalist

The Ocean Just Added 1,121 New Pages to Its Living Library

The Ocean Just Added 1,121 New Pages to Its Living Library

Scientists are documenting ocean life at an astonishing pace, from transparent midwater animals off Brazil to tiny speci...

Khao Lak's Bamboo Shark Nursery: How Tiny Carpet Sharks Are Rebuilding Andaman Reefs

Khao Lak's Bamboo Shark Nursery: How Tiny Carpet Sharks Are Rebuilding Andaman Reefs

A small, beautifully banded carpet shark is quietly rebuilding coral reefs off Khao Lak. Since 2018, a local nursery has...

The Rainbow With No Paint: How Pearl Oysters Build Iridescent Color From Pure Crystal

The Rainbow With No Paint: How Pearl Oysters Build Iridescent Color From Pure Crystal

Every shimmering pink-green-blue hue on a mother-of-pearl shell contains zero pigment. The entire rainbow is created by...

The Hidden Ally Inside Every Fish: How Gut Microbes Are Quietly Shaping the Ocean

The Hidden Ally Inside Every Fish: How Gut Microbes Are Quietly Shaping the Ocean

Scientists have discovered that bacteria living inside fish guts may be working alongside their hosts to produce calcium...

Thirty-One New Ocean Species in Two Weeks: Meet the Tools Rewriting Deep-Sea Science

Thirty-One New Ocean Species in Two Weeks: Meet the Tools Rewriting Deep-Sea Science

A single expedition off Brazil discovered more than thirty species never seen before — in just fourteen days. The secret...

The Forest That Refused to Disappear: Mangroves Are Coming Back Worldwide

The Forest That Refused to Disappear: Mangroves Are Coming Back Worldwide

A landmark June 2026 study in the journal Science confirms what Andaman coast communities already knew: mangrove forests...

1,121 New Species in One Year: From Ghost Sharks to Glass Castles, the Ocean Is Full of Surprises

1,121 New Species in One Year: From Ghost Sharks to Glass Castles, the Ocean Is Full of Surprises

The Ocean Census has just announced the discovery of 1,121 previously unknown marine species — including a prehistoric g...

Where the Seagrass Survives: Dugongs Follow Their Food to Phang Nga

Where the Seagrass Survives: Dugongs Follow Their Food to Phang Nga

As southern Thailand's seagrass meadows decline, dugongs are migrating northward to Phang Nga and Phuket — where an 800,...

Mae Namo comes ashore: a leatherback's sixth nest signals a quiet recovery on the Phang Nga coast

Mae Namo comes ashore: a leatherback's sixth nest signals a quiet recovery on the Phang Nga coast

On a June night in Phang Nga, a leatherback sea turtle nicknamed Mae Namo laid her sixth nest of the 2026 season — 123 e...

Roots in the Mud: Phang Nga Plants 3,000 Mangroves at Takua Pa

Roots in the Mud: Phang Nga Plants 3,000 Mangroves at Takua Pa

On June 8, 2026, three thousand mangrove seedlings went into the tidal mud at Takua Pa — a small act with consequences t...

The Architecture of a Shell: How Mollusks Build Spirals on the Andaman Coast

The Architecture of a Shell: How Mollusks Build Spirals on the Andaman Coast

A nautilus shell is a mathematical equation made physical. Hermit crabs, oysters, and snails engineer protective archite...