Oceans

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is launching an emergency response in Lower Florida Keys waters after reports emerged of smalltooth sawfish displaying abnormal behaviors such as spinning and whirling. In addition to the abnormal behavior reported by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), as of March 24 there were more than […]

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has issued a “red alert” as all major global climate records — greenhouse gas levels, near-surface temperatures, ocean heat and acidification, Antarctic sea ice cover, glacier retreat and sea level rise — were broken in 2023, a WMO press release said. Floods, swiftly intensifying tropical cyclones, heat waves, drought and […]

Orca whales are familiar residents of West Coast waters. The black and white marine mammals are often seen swimming in groups, diving and slapping their tails against the water’s surface. Researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC) believe that a group of 49 killer whales seen hunting sperm whales and other marine animals in […]

According to a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), February 2024 was the planet’s ninth consecutive record-warm month. February’s average global temperature on land and the ocean’s surface was 2.52 degrees Fahrenheit above the century’s average of 53.8 degrees Fahrenheit — the warmest February in the 175-year NOAA planetary climate record. […]

Quick Key Facts Ocean Plastic: The Basics  The Earth’s oceans are teeming with life — and with plastic. In fact, by 2050, it’s expected that there will be even more plastic in the ocean than fish. Adding to the 150 million tons already in marine environments, eight million tons of plastic reaches our oceans every […]

In the past eight years, the Great Barrier Reef — the largest coral reef in the world, stretching 1,429 miles — has experienced five mass bleaching events, tied by scientists to climate change. Most recently, corals around six islands in Turtle Group National Park, located about 6.2 miles off Australia’s Queensland Coast, have seen extensive […]

Healthy coral reefs are complex ecosystems that serve as the feeding and spawning habitat for thousands of fish, molluscs, crustaceans and many other marine species. Reefs are not only colorful, but full of sounds, and it is this vast array of noises that is the focus of a new study by scientists at the Woods […]

Researchers have discovered a variety of large plastic pieces in the guts of dead sea turtles found in the eastern Mediterranean. Some of these plastic items include bottle caps and a Halloween toy in the shape of a witch finger. A team led by the University of Exeter and the North Cyprus Society for the […]