Thousands of miles off the southeast coast of South America lies a set of remote islands, one broad and comma-shaped, the others a series of small dots that trail off…
When Leandro Castello graduated with his degree in oceanography in 1998, he didn’t immediately get a job related to the ocean. Instead, he found himself in the Middle Solimões region…
A vessel carrying thousands of tons of fertilizer has sunk in the Red Sea, raising fears of an environmental disaster in a part of the ocean known to harbor some…
The southern section of the Great Barrier Reef is undergoing extensive coral bleaching, according to researchers who recently surveyed the region. The discovery has raised fears that this fragile coral…
Marine protected areas intended to safeguard biodiversity in the ocean come in many different sizes and shapes. Some cover large swaths of the ocean, while others are smaller in scale.…
Migratory species that travel long distances in the ocean, including sharks, turtles and dolphins, face an unprecedented number of threats resulting from human actions. At the latest assembly of the…
Kamy Yeung said she wanted to do more scuba diving. So in 2014, she signed up to be a volunteer diver for a newly launched reef fish survey project in…
The European Parliament has voted in favor of a resolution that raises concerns about Norway’s deep-sea mining intentions in Arctic waters. While the resolution itself doesn’t carry any legal power…
Sea otters are slowing down the erosion of salt marshes, thanks to their rapacious appetite for crabs, according to new research. But it took some sleuthing to figure this out.…
Human actions are rapidly changing the world’s oceans, whether through overfishing, pollution or coastal development. But among the most intense pressures placed on the seas right now is humanity’s ongoing…
Palau has become the first nation to ratify the high seas treaty, a legally binding international agreement that seeks to protect and manage ocean areas beyond national jurisdiction. Other countries,…
Nearly a quarter of the world’s wild-caught seafood is scooped up by bottom trawlers, fishing vessels that drag heavy nets over the seafloor. These boats fish the world over and…
Shark finning bans have had little effect on protecting global shark populations, according to new research. However, shark mortality decreased in pelagic fisheries, which suggests that regulatory measures in regional…
In December, the Spanish government issued sanctions against 25 Spanish-flagged vessels that fished near the border of Argentina’s territorial waters between 2018 and 2021. The sanctions were for repeatedly turning…
Norway’s parliament has officially voted to allow deep-sea mining to go forward in the Norwegian Sea, despite warnings from scientists and conservationists that it could damage the marine environment. This…
The trade in shark fins is still underway in the United States, despite legislation making such activities illegal, an investigative report has found. Environmentalists say this indicates that officials need…
On Dec. 20, the U.S. government auctioned off oil and gas drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico despite concerns the move could endanger a newly described and very rare…
The ocean plays an oversized role in regulating Earth’s climate and reducing human-produced greenhouse gas emissions. The watery realms of our planet capture about 25% of global carbon dioxide emissions…
A new report suggests that the rapid acceleration of climate change has pushed the Earth systems humanity relies upon to the brink of collapse, placing the world on a “devastating…
Mexico, a nation that previously supported the development of deep-sea mining, has now called for a moratorium on this activity in international waters. One environmental expert called Mexico’s announcement a…
In today’s industrialized world, avoiding plastic is virtually impossible. Every trip to the grocery store likely means coming home with food and household items packaged in plastic bottles, tubs and…
KINGSTON — “All of this was mangroves,” says marine scientist Mona Webber, pointing toward a line of ghostly gray boulders separating the road from the sea. We’re standing on the…
The world’s first marine reserve for sperm whales is set to open in the waters off the coast of Dominica, a tiny island nation in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The…
Commercial mining in the deep ocean is not yet a reality, but the possibility is on the horizon. Delegates of the U.N.-affiliated deep-sea mining regulator, the International Seabed Authority (ISA),…
A team of international researchers recently discovered sprawling cold-water coral reefs in the deep waters around the Galápagos Islands. They found the corals after identifying marine areas with high wave…
The government of New Caledonia recently announced that it would highly protect 10% of its ocean to safeguard ecologically important marine areas for sea turtles, sharks, dolphins, whales and seabirds.…
The population of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales appears to be holding steady, although experts warn they’re still in danger of going extinct. According to a new estimate, there…
The mountain chicken isn’t a chicken at all, but a huge frog three times as heavy as a can of soup and about as long as a large banana. These…
New research shows that marine heat waves last longer in deeper water, increasing the possibility of species displacement or mortality. Marine heat waves, defined as events where ocean temperatures rise…
The more we learn about plastic, the more we find it everywhere. Research has shown that tiny microplastic particles litter the world’s oceans and rivers, from the Arctic and Antarctic.…