OCEANS

NOAA Launches Virtual Tours of America’s Marine Sanctuaries

Explore shipwrecks in Lake Huron and coral reefs off the Florida Keys.

Scientists Think They Know How Whales Got So Big

These 200-ton ocean dwellers had a growth spurt 3 million years ago.

Name the States That Border These Bodies of Water

Take the quiz!

Matthew Modoono / Northeastern University

This Rare Shipworm Is Not Safe for Work

"When I took that thing out of the tube, there was a collective gasp among the whole group, along with quite a number of expletives."

How Blobs of Sea Snot Help Keep Our Oceans Clean

New technology lets scientists look inside giant larvaceans’ bizarre mucus houses.

National Museum of the United States Navy

The Craft That First Took Humans to the Deepest Part of the Ocean

What do you do when you want to go to the deepest part of the ocean? Build a bathyscaphe, of course.

Scientists Record an Extremely Intimate Look at How Dolphins Get It On

Researchers used a CT scanner to watch how dolphins' oddly shaped junk fits together during sex.

The Deepest Shipwreck Ever Found

We are only just beginning to find ways to explore the deepest trenches.

Hoving and Haddock, Scientific Reports (2017)

Giant Seven-Arm Octopus Might Use Jellyfish as a (Tasty) Weapon

Researchers observed the deep-sea cephalopods in the act of eating dinner.

A Luxury Travel Company Will Offer Titanic Tours in 2018

The first trip costs $105,000, and is already booked up.

Boaty McBoatface Is About to Embark on Its First Mission

The autosub is headed to Antarctica to gather data on cold ocean currents.

NASA/Kathryn Hansen via Flickr Creative Commons // CC BY 2.0

Experts Predict Widespread Ocean Warming by 2050

Up to 86 percent of the ocean surface will be warming and acidifying within the next few decades—unless we take steps to prevent it.

Scientists Capture First Underwater Footage of Rare Beaked Whales

The True's beaked whale is one of the most elusive mammals in the ocean.

13 Wondrous Photos of Waves

Australian photographer Warren Keelan ventures off shore to get close-ups of the ocean in action.

Our Pollution Has Now Reached Deep-Sea Animals

Scientists found high levels of contamination in two of the deepest ocean trenches.

Eating Shellfish Likely Means Eating Plastic, Scientists Say

The amount of plastic in our oceans—and thus in our seafood—is rising.

Deep-sea urchins are seen in an ocean trench near New Zealand.

8 Surprising Facts About the Deepest Part of the Ocean

Just a handful of people have ever been to the deepest part of the ocean, but what we've learned about life in the hadal zone is astonishing.

NOAA Okeanos Explorer program, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and U.S. Geological Survey

U.S. Creates Protected Zone for Atlantic Deep-Sea Corals

The Frank R. Lautenberg Deep Sea Coral Protection Area is off-limits for commercial fishing practices that affect the sea floor.

Could Feeding Seaweed to Cows Help Save the Climate?

Scientists were able to reduce methane production by 99 percent in preliminary tests on artificial cow stomachs.

Crochet Coral Reef project by Margaret and Christine Wertheim and the Institute For Figuring, 2005-ongoing. Photo © Institute For Figuring

Crocheted Coral Reefs Raise Awareness of Real Reefs' Destruction

Sisters Margaret and Christine Wertheim started the Crochet Coral Reef project in 2005 when they learned pollution and global warming may soon completely destroy the Great Barrier Reef in their home country of Australia.

Inosipmax via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 4.0

7 Unattractive Facts About Blobfish

They don't look half bad underwater.

Follow a Research Vessel Into the 'Hot Tub of Despair'

Many creatures who enter never come out.

Diliff via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 3.0

England’s White Cliffs Are Crumbling at an Accelerated Rate

Researchers say chalk cliffs in Sussex are receding from the coast 10 times faster than they did a few centuries ago.

Nick Hobgood via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 3.0

Coral and Algae Have Been Friends for 212 Million Years

Analysis of coral skeletons from the Late Triassic period shows that the corals were already involved in a symbiotic relationship with dinoflagellate algae even then.

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