Melissa Hobson
Marine science and conservation writer
Melissa Hobson, doing business as The Ocean Writer Ltd., is a marine science and conservation writer based in Hastings. She has written about the ocean for outlets including BBC Wildlife, BBC Countryfile, National Geographic, New Scientist and the Guardian. Visit Melissa’s website at melissahobson.co.uk or follow her on LinkedIn.
Recent articles by Melissa Hobson
An expedition team were filming in a remote kelp forest in Patagonia when this happened
The divers came face to face with some “curious” creatures in the underwater forest.
It has 24 eyes and is one of the world's deadliest animals, with a sting so venomous it can kill a human in minutes
This is one animal you should definitely give a wide birth if you see it, says Melissa Hobson
Explorers stumble across whale carcass at bottom of ocean – what they find feasting on it fills them with awe
Despite its long, drifting journey into the deep ocean, the marine scientists discover that the dead whale still has life to give.
Why scientists just bred these baby red fish with 'hands' in Tasmania
Researchers hope these adorable babies can bring this rare species back from the edge of extinction.
Bewitching glass octopus rarely seen alive filmed near remote Pacific islands
Deep-sea researchers saw the translucent octopus at a seamount 651m below the surface.
Deep-sea scientists just saw something huge at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean
The elusive animal was filmed swimming over the seafloor near the Phoenix Islands in the Southern Pacific Ocean.
This deadly female octopus plans to eat her partner after sex. But the male has a defensive trick in his tentacles
For blue-lined octopus, mating is a dangerous game. That’s why males inject females with venom before sex, according to a new study.
When a divemaster in Mauritius saw a shark approaching, an even bigger animal appeared
The incredible underwater footage reveals just how majestic these two ocean creatures are.
Divers in Bali thought this huge shape was a whale shark, but it wasn't
In an extremely rare encounter, a great white shark joined a group of scuba divers in Indonesia.
“A rare look" – scientists put a camera inside a shark egg and were spellbound by what they saw
Watch tiny shark embryos grow inside their eggs before they’re ready to be released into the wild.
"Invisible armour and giant eyes": see the deep-sea dweller with its own invisibility cloak
Open water animals in the deep sea are dangerously exposed to predators but this one swims through the ocean totally unseen thanks to some special attributes.
See incredible moment dolphins welcome NASA astronauts back home
After several months in space, NASA astronauts were welcomed home by a pod of playful dolphins.
"We were the first": researchers in Antarctica stumble across animals that have never seen humans before
The team managed to capture a series of amazing videos of the animals under the glow of the midnight sun.
This ocean giant's mouth is as wide as a car – and an expedition team just filmed inside it
Underwater filmmakers got a plankton’s-eye view of a hungry whale shark.
“If an eagle fell, I had to carry it back up without being torn apart” How one woman helped save the bald eagle
In the 1970s, the bald eagle was on the verge of extinction. Thanks in part to the pioneering work of one young biologist, this magnificent bird has made a spectacular comeback.
Researchers stuck a camera on a baby whale in Hawai'i – they were never expecting to see this
Tags often record things such as sound and temperature, but this one captured something surprising...
Baby polar bears – this is the cutest wildlife video you'll see today
Heartwarming footage from the Arctic offers a rare glimpse into the early lives of young polar bears, when they are at their most vulnerable.
"Then along comes a predator” – but it couldn't have expected this
This blue-eyed ocean animal uses jet propulsion to move around the ocean – but is it enough to save this individual from a hungry predator?
Scientists just spent 16 months exploring Earth's oceans – what they found is breathtaking
The researchers discovered an astonishing 866 new marine creatures, including a species of guitar shark, a deep-sea limpet and an adorable pygmy pipehorse.
This tiny, deadly animal has venom so lethal it could kill a human within minutes – and there's no antidote
Discover all you need to know about one of the world's deadliest animals
Photographer stumbles across enormous 'smoking' animal in Indonesia's Banda Sea
The creature – which can grow almost two metres wide – was "like something from a sci fi movie," says photographer Aaron Sanders.
This fearsome ocean crawler slurps prey like a smoothie, breathes through its legs and can grow as big as a cat
Related to both spiders and crabs, sea spiders suck up the insides of their prey “like sipping through a straw” – they also store all their organs in their legs, say scientists.
'Pillar of intestines': entrancing video shows weird creature feeding like an "underwater sausage with hiccups"
These ocean 'aliens' can help researchers answer important questions about evolution.
A rare and ghostly shape just appeared in the Great Barrier Reef
It's only the second time the eerie-looking animal has been recorded in the region off the east coast of Australia.