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
"Raw and brutal": whale watchers look on astonished as orcas kill humpback whale in South Africa
Wildlife watchers saw the circle of life at its most brutal during South Africa’s sardine run when a pod of orcas killed a young humpback whale and ate its tongue.
"Feels like magic": the mind-bending videos helping scientists understand why corals bleach
The development of a new microscope is allowing experts to see what’s going on inside corals like never before – and it might help them understand bleaching.
When this tiger shark bumped into a ray, something truly shocking happened
Scientists have observed electric rays delivering a shock to sharks to protect themselves.
The "absolutely adorable” reason this octopus is hiding behind a twig
The curious octopus – filmed in Florida – appears to be playing hide-and-seek with a diver.
This bizarre "giant swimming head" is about to return to Bali
Sunfish are on their way to Bali for the season and scuba divers are beyond excited.
A new ocean could be forming deep below the Earth's surface, say scientists, and it's one that could rip Africa apart...
As a plume of molten magma pulls the continent apart in east Africa, a new ocean may be on the way, scientists say
"Largest great hammerhead ever filmed in the Bahamas"
A four-metre great hammerhead shark has been filmed up-close in the Bahamas.
Cute and very shy yellow boxfish filmed pootling around a reef – and it has a friend
An underwater photographer was surprised to see the two timid creatures hanging out calmly together.
Astounding deep-sea 'galaxy' filmed off Californian coast
This galaxy siphonophore is a stunning colonial organism that glows as red as burning embers.
'Moonwalking' orca stuns onlookers in Canada. Experts know what it's doing
Moonwalking is a rare behaviour among transient killer whales and may be a way of dividing up food to share.
'Eggs and sperm float around them like snow': this mating dance is like nothing you’ve seen before
When these marine animals get it on, they bust a dazzling move to impress their partner – and we have video evidence to prove it.
"Blows my mind”: when this drone pilot saw a baby whale off the coast of Australia, he wasn’t expecting it to do this
The photographer was amazed to see the newborn humpback whale launch itself into the air as it learnt to breach – and he caught the whole thing on camera.
Collision course: can new AI tech stop ships from killing whales?
Many whales around the world are at risk from ship strikes. This AI might be able to help save them, say researchers.
When night divers found a glow-in-the-dark animal hiding in the Red Sea, they uncovered a mystery
Researchers noticed tiny gall crabs fluorescing among the coral reefs and decided to try to figure out what was going on.
UK government proposes ban on bottom trawling in Marine Protected Areas
Government proposals to ban bottom trawling in more vulnerable marine habitats aim to protect important and rare underwater life.
Scientists have filmed anchor damage in the Antarctic for the first time. Here’s what they saw
Researchers filmed the damage caused by ships’ anchors in Antarctica, in a scientific first
DNA suggests shark "unlike any other" more common in Wales than previously thought
A new study suggests the decline in critically endangered angelsharks in Wales may have been overestimated.
16ft great white shark found with perfectly circular hole in head – and we know exactly what caused it
The strange-looking wound was made by another predator, say experts from the California White Shark Project.
Scientists put three decades of whale migration data into a digital map – this is what they saw
The Protecting Blue Corridors platform allows conservationists to see where whales are moving and track threats in their path.
If you’ve been swimming in the ocean, this bizarre animal was there – probably without you even knowing
There are thousands of species of nudibranchs and they come in all different colours and sizes – as this expect video explains.
"No way!" Gob-smacking footage of a gigantic two-tonne elephant seal taking a rest on a South African police car
After shocking residents in the coastal community of Gordon's Bay, the southern elephant seal was safely relocated to the sea.
Expedition team films “surreal” sound echoing across beach in Argentina
A conservation expedition team has shared footage of a noisy rabble of elephant seals in Argentina – their otherworldly grunts can be heard rumbling along the shore.
When a boat came across a huge humpback whale carcass in Chile, they decided to do something amazing
Conservationists in Chilean Patagonia came together to preserve the enormous skeleton.
Something remarkable was just filmed at this decaying whale carcass in Hawai'i
In a scientific first, researchers recorded oceanic whitetip and tiger sharks – two species not usually seen together – feeding peacefully on a decayed whale carcass.