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Charles Moore

Charles Moore looks at the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Chile in March. His team found that an enormous floating garbage patch there held a mix of fishing gear and tiny plastic bits.

courtesy of Algalita

 
Oceans
Sep 25, 2017
Expedition finds South Pacific plastic patch bigger than India
Most of the oceanic garbage is tiny, confetti-sized bits
Naples beach
What if you were at this Naples, Fla., beach when the water suddenly got sucked back into the ocean? Earlier this month, Hurricane Irma made that happen, putting beach-goers in danger.
Milan Boers/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
 
Weather & Climate
Sep 15, 2017
Here's why Irma caused some coastal water to temporarily go missing
The hurricane’s tricky behavior left some residents confused — and in danger
humpback feeding

Crowds of prey make eating small fish worth the effort for huge humpback whales. This also may help explain a whale innovation: dining on young salmon released by fish hatcheries.

David Csepp, NOAA/NMFS/AKFSC/ABL, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Department of Commerce

 
Animals
Aug 30, 2017
Whales feast when hatcheries release salmon
Crowds of young fish at release sites may attract hungry humpbacks to a new type of prey
860-hurricane-explainer-header.gif

Whether called a cyclone, hurricane or typhoon, these storms bring strong winds and plenty of precipitation.

RamonBerk/istockphoto

 
Weather & Climate
Aug 28, 2017
Explainer: Hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons
Here’s how the storms form and why they are so dangerous
coral Cuba

Tourists can visit Cuba’s beautiful underwater reefs, but a trade embargo with the United States makes it difficult for Cuban scientists to study these reefs.

Wafue/iStockphoto

 
Science & Society
Aug 24, 2017
Cuba: How politics has become a hurdle for its researchers
Cuban scientists struggle to receive U.S. equipment and publish in major journals
sea spiders

Giant sea spiders may look strange, but their circulatory system is even weirder, new data show.

Tim Dwyer

 
Animals
Aug 14, 2017
Giant Antarctic sea spiders breathe really strangely
These creepy-crawlers absorb oxygen through their skin and pump blood with their guts
ocean exploration

To reach the deepest depths of the oceans, scientists must rely on rovers to take them there — or to do the exploring as they remain atop the waves.

Steve Ross, UNC-W/NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration/Flickr (CC-BY 2.0)

 
Oceans
Aug 10, 2017
Cool Jobs: Science deep beneath the waves
These scientists explore the sea’s mysterious depths — from ‘zombie worms’ to mega-waves
humpback whale

Scientists filmed this humpback whale swimming with a large group of others as it fed off the coast of South Africa. The video shows the whale using its front flippers to move toward its prey.

Charles Littnan and Ari Friedlaender

 
Animals
Aug 7, 2017
Humpbacks flap their flippers like underwater birds
Researchers spotted whales making moves once thought impossible
Arctic water

The Arctic Ocean didn’t become salty until a stretch of land that ran from Greenland (pictured here) to Scotland sank far enough beneath the sea, a new study finds.

SteveAllenPhoto/iStockphoto

 
Oceans
Jul 19, 2017
How the Arctic Ocean became salty
A land bridge had to sink far enough below a top-of-the-world lake to let Atlantic saltwater overwhelm it
corvina fish

This is a fresh-caught Gulf corvina. Scientists have listened in on its mating sounds to determine how many of these fish are around — and if they need protecting.

Gulf of California Marine Program

 
Animals
Jul 14, 2017
Listening to fish love songs can predict their numbers
Scientists use sound to count some of the fish in the sea