Four Billion Microplastic Particles Discovered in the Waters of Tampa Bay
While collecting water samples and plankton in Tampa Bay, researchers discovered a high concentration of microplastics, which are known to disrupt the marine food chain….
Oceanography
“Impressive” Memory and Navigation Revealed by Mako Shark Tracking off West Coast
These top predators travel far across the Pacific, returning to the same areas in the Southern California Bight each year. The largest effort ever to…
A Battery-Free Sensor for Underwater Exploration [Video]
Submerged system uses the vibration of “piezoelectric” materials to generate power and send and receive data. To investigate the vastly unexplored oceans covering most of…
Subzero Arctic Water Provides Peek at Possible Life on Other Worlds
In recent years, the idea of life on other planets has become less far-fetched. NASA announced June 27 that it will send a vehicle to…
‘Fingerprints’ of Ancient Weather Conditions
When a coastal tide rolls out, it can reveal beautiful ripples in the temporarily exposed sand. These same undulating patterns can also be seen in…
Scientists Reveal How Phytoplankton Survive in Nutrient Deficient Ocean Gyres
Subtropical gyres are huge, sustained currents spanning thousands of kilometers across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, where very little grows. With nutrients in short supply,…
New Blood-Red Species of Octocoral Discovered in Panama
A study in the journal Bulletin of Marine Science describes a new, blood-red species of octocoral found in Panama. The species in the genus Thesea…
Carbon Filled Oceans Affect Tiny But Important Organism
They’re impossible to see with the naked eye. They’re difficult to pronounce. But coccolithophores, a single-celled plankton, have an outsized effect on oceans due to…
Landsat 8 Views Striking Patterns of Blue and Green in the Chukchi Sea
Regardless of the amount of winter ice cover, the waters off of the Alaskan coast usually come alive each spring with blooms of phytoplankton. These…
New Approach Helps Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Explore
Observing the world’s oceans is increasingly a mission assigned to autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) — marine robots that are designed to drift, drive, or glide…
Thawing Permafrost is Changing Arctic and Subarctic Lakes and Ponds
As ice the melts, the organic carbon found in permafrost is being released once again after ages of confinement in the soil. It is making…
Researchers Shed Light on the Mysterious Lives of Narwhals
Narwhals are some of the most elusive creatures in the ocean, spending most of their lives in deep water far from shore. But research being…
New Aluminum Batteries Increase the Range of UUVs Tenfold
New batteries that “drink” seawater could power long-range underwater vehicles, giving UUVs a tenfold increase in range over traditional lithium-ion batteries used for the same…
MIT Study Shows Tiny Plankton Have a Big Effect on the Ocean’s Carbon Storage
New research from MIT and Bristol University reveal that microscopic, mixotrophic organisms may have a large impact on the ocean’s food web and the global…
Temperature of Ancient Seas May Shape Global Climate
In a newly published study, scientists from Yale University detail the differences in ocean temperatures over the last 5 million years by creating a historical…
GRACE Satellites Provide New Way to Track Ocean Currents from Space
Scientists have developed a new way to use satellite measurements to track changes in Atlantic Ocean currents. The finding opens a path to better monitoring…
2015 El Niño Appears Likely to Equal the Event of 1997-98
NASA scientists continue to monitor and study this year’s El Niño, which appears likely to equal the event of 1997-98 – the strongest El Niño…
The Unintended Consequences of Geoengineering a Cooler Atmosphere
In a newly published study, scientists from MIT reveal unintended consequences of an idea to stimulate ocean phytoplankton growth in order to geoengineer a cooler…