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
Polar bear pulls seal pup onto ice then backs away. The reason why is extraordinary
Mother seals usually stay close to their pups and this polar bear tried to use that fact to its advantage.
There's an island off Brazil that's a magnet for 3m-long sharks. Fresh wounds on their bodies reveal why they're there
Critically endangered sand tiger sharks use the waters around Alcatrazes Archipelago year-round to breed, gestate and raise young, according to a new study.
“Something I’d never even heard rumours of." Sea turtle emerges from water with strange creature clinging to its back
Remoras – also known as suckerfish – attach themselves to marine animals to hitch a ride, but seeing them holding on tight while out of the water is rare.
This sloth rode a ladder to the rainforest...
When a sloth found itself lost in a hotel lobby, staff used the strangest mode of transport to get it home.
Swirling barracuda 'tornado' caught on camera off Indonesian island
Dive guide films mesmerising school of barracuda several metres high while exploring the waters around Maratua Island, Indonesia.
Epic footage shows the "largest great hammerhead ever filmed in the Bahamas"
The four-metre great hammerhead shark was caught on camera in 2025.
"You may experience headaches, nausea, vomiting, chest pain, irregular heartbeat, and fluid on the lungs…" 10 deadliest animals in the Atlantic Ocean
From the extremely venomous fish to huge predatory sharks, these are some of the most dangerous animals in the Atlantic Ocean
It's as long as a stretched limo and swings its lethal chainsaw snout from side to side to slice its prey in half
Largetooth sawfish are one of the most unusual-looking creatures in the sea but their iconic snout also puts them at risk from humans
He thought he was just filming a strange sea creature – BUT then it did something completely unexpected…
Photographer Ian Haggerty stumbled across the bizarre-looking sea cucumber while exploring a reef.
Its name comes from the 'grunting' noise – like hungry pigs slurping their slop – made by the giant churning gyre that's claimed a dozen sailors' lives…
The Old Sow is the largest tidal whirlpool in the western hemisphere
Inside the incredible underwater cities, filled with apartment blocks, that stretch along a massive 150km of coastline
These snails stay in one spot for life and build tiny apartments that support lots of other sea creatures
"It oozes gross, sticky mucus that paralyses prey before sucking it back in…" A bizarre predator that's as long as a sperm whale, but as thin as tagliatelle
Bootlace worms are around as wide as a piece of tagliatelle but are said to grow longer than a blue whale
Deep-sea scientists filmed something hugely astonishing and very rarely seen gliding over the seafloor in Chile
Extraordinary footage of a mother squid carrying her eggs
“To rip off the tail only took a minute…" Insane, gobsmacking drone footage captures gigantic shark eating another shark in Florida
A photographer was astounded when her drone captured the moment a huge hammerhead pounced on a reef shark.
When marine scientists found a plastic bottle floating in the ocean, they were shocked to see this large creature living inside, unable to escape…
Marine scientists were shocked to find a large live crab stuck inside a small plastic bottle. This is how it got there
Researchers tag 42 sleeping giants in Arctic Circle – and make breathtaking discovery
Scientists wanted to find out why sperm whales sometimes release bubbles while they snooze – this is what they found.
Scientists tied plastic bottles to fishing nets – and couldn't believe what happened next…
Hundreds of dolphins die in fishing nets every year. How adding this one thing to nets s could help save them
They sound like spaceships! Polar researchers capture otherworldly footage of seal mum and pup beneath the ice
Researchers in Antarctica have shared a charming video of a Weddell seal teaching her new pup to swim under the ice.
This deep-sea creature looks like a crocodile, is named after a whale and appears bright scarlet
This deep-sea creature has several different forms, each one so different from the next that scientists thought they were three separate families
Arctic bobtail squid seen alive in natural habitat for first time ever
Arctic bobtail squid had never been observed in their natural environment before – and scientists even saw egg masses around the mature female.
"I didn’t know what I was looking at": drone films one of the strangest and rarest animals on the planet
The bizarre-looking wedgefish was one of several animals spotted swimming in a group through Shark Bay, says Wildlife videographer Jake Mason.
"This is very rare.” Marine scientists amazed to see enormous sea creature do this in broad daylight – it's usually only witnessed at night
Drone captures Greenland ice tearing open to reveal colossal animal beneath
The gigantic marine creature can be seen breaking through the ice to take several breaths of air before returning to the deep.
There's a curious creature on the Massachusetts coast that's taught itself to poop on demand. This is why
A new study reveals that hermit crabs have a clever way of preventing themselves from outgrowing their shell too quickly – and it’s not by limiting what they eat.
