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a computer generated image of what the Ocean Cleanup system will look like floating in the North Pacific
This computer rendering shows what the 600-meter-long (2,000-foot) Ocean Cleanup system will look like floating in the North Pacific. Currents will push on the boom to form a u-shape. The system is designed to trap bits of plastic that boats can collect later.
The Ocean Cleanup
 
Pollution
Oct 8, 2018
Enormous floating barrier will corral ocean trash
Critics question whether it will do much good
a blue gloved hand holding a plate with bacteria on it
From the great outdoors to our internal organs, the world is awash in unseen bacteria (some seen growing on plate here). Most people assume (unfairly) that these germs are all dangerous. Biologists know better. Studying these poorly understood microbes could better reveal how they function as the "invisible backbone of life."
jarun011/iStockphoto
 
Microbes
Oct 4, 2018
Bacteria are all around us — and that’s okay
Although these microbes remain poorly understood, they could prove key to protecting life across the planet
a gentoo penguin jumping into the ocean off a rocky outcropping
Researchers attached cameras to gentoo penguins on the Falkland Islands to see what they ate. The video revealed that some of the birds’ tiny prey can avoid being eaten.
J. Handley
 
Animals
Oct 2, 2018
This penguin prey knows how to fight back
Scientists filmed ‘epic fight scenes’ below the ocean’s surface
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A bloom of harmful algae can be seen just offshore in this summer 2018 image of a Florida shoreline.
  Robin Hamman/Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)
 
Oceans
Sep 19, 2018
New tools aim to better predict blooms of toxic algae
Better understanding the threats from ‘toxic tides’ can protect the environment — and our health
a red-footed booby chick sitting in a tree
The poop of seabirds, such as this red-footed booby chick, contains nitrogen that leaches into coral ecosystems. That nitrogen helps the reefs stay robust.
N. Graham
 
Ecology
Aug 1, 2018
Bird poop helps keep coral reefs healthy, but rats are interfering
Nitrogen from bird guano makes for more productive reef ecosystems
upwelling
Upwelling brings cold water from the depths of the ocean to the surface. Those cold waters are rich in nutrients, which helps life thrive. Here, areas of upwelling in the ocean highlighted in red.
NOAA
Scientists Say
 
Earth
Jul 23, 2018
Scientists Say: Upwelling
This is a process in which something moves up and out
researchers stand in the water with a narwhal
Researchers put a sound recording device on a male narwhal to capture its underwater clicks, buzzes and calls.
S. Blackwell
 
Animals
Jul 20, 2018
Here’s what narwhals sound like underwater
Multi-day eavesdropping reveals a range of clicks, calls and buzzes
ocean octopuses
Sixteen out of these 17 deep-sea octopuses are brooding young. However, young and old, all are fated to die.
Phill Torres, Geoff Wheat
 
Animals
Jun 18, 2018
Deep-sea expedition led researchers to doomed octopus nursery
The good news: A healthy population of octopods may be nearby
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A single swimming brine shrimp moves the water near its body. The green lines trace the movement over time of particles in the water as the shrimp swims. Large numbers of the animals moving together could create currents strong enough to stir oceans.
Isabel Houghton
 
Oceans
May 30, 2018
Small swimmers may play huge role in churning the seas
Masses of shrimp and krill stir up currents that could loft nutrients up from the deep
staghorn coral
Staghorn coral may be able to last 100­ to 250 years thanks to its ability to adapt to warming waters, a new study shows. Here, a healthy staghorn grows off Magnetic Island in the central part of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
M. Matz et al/PLOS Genetics 2018
 
Oceans
May 18, 2018
Ocean heat waves are on the rise — and killing coral
But some coral species may be survivors, new research shows