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Social media users consider aliens or sea monsters — but NOAA researcher suspects an animal culprit. Mysterious, neatly aligned holes have been discovered deep in the ocean — and scientists are stumped about their origin.
The basking shark feeds on the surface with its mouth wide open to filter plankton, explains the St. Lawrence Shark Observatory (archives).
Liquid biopsy (LB) is a concept that is rapidly gaining ground in the biomedical field. Its concept is largely based on the detection of circulating cell-free DNA (ccfDNA) fragments that are mostly released as small fragments following cell death in various tissues. A small percentage of these f ...
The St. Lawrence riverbanks are eroding. This has an impact on infrastructure, economy and inhabitants’ well-being. It exposes communities to flooding and can destroy local ecosystems.
Search “ocean zones” online, and you will see hundreds of illustrations that depict the same vertical profile of the sea. The thin, top layer is the “sunlight” or epipelagic zone, which receives enough light for photosynthesis by phytoplankton, algae and some bacteria.
When Wang Aimin, then a professor of oceanic science at Hainan University, started helping with marine ranching by dropping artificial reefs into seawater in 2011, he was ridiculed by local divers.
Every Saturday, a group of Cook Island Māori youth slide into scuba gear, grab sticks from the ironwood trees (Casuarina equisetifolia) growing along Rarotonga’s beachfront, and head to the reef surrounding the island. Their mission; to dive for invasive taramea (crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanth ...
Researchers have listed fifteen areas of concern, emphasizing the need to tackle these issues. Examples include the mining of lithium from the deep sea, exploitation of species found in deeper waters, and the unforeseen effects of wildfires across different ecosystems.
If you ever stumble upon a seal pup far from home, best leave it alone and call for help. Humans (and their dogs) can pose a danger to seals, and the marine mammals can give humans tuberculosis.
In the eastern waters off Hong Kong, a group of scientists searching for coral-eating nudibranchs stumbled upon a colorful surprise: three new species of sun corals. These orange, purple and green corals belong to the genus Tubastraea, bringing the known members of this coral group from seven sp ...
UNC-Chapel Hill biologists examine the links between microbial mats and a type of coral disease that has become an urgent conservation concern, and they suggest mitigation strategies to help reduce its spread.
Two whales that became entangled in shark nets on the Queensland coast have been freed after being stuck for several hours.
Long portrayed in pop culture as remorseless people-killers, sharks in reality are no Hollywood monsters. Sharks are a diverse group of mostly predatory fish, including the largest living fish, with skeletons made of cartilage.
In the 1980s, farmers in Bangladesh went from paddies to ponds, letting salt water flood their land. Now millions are left counting the cost
The Conference’s fourth day, focused on the role of the scientific community, to enable the blue transformation of humankind’s relationship with the ocean.
When Bryce Stewart dived after the toothed, steel-weighted nets of a scallop dredger rumbling over the bottom of the Irish Sea 22 years ago, he witnessed destruction he could never have seen from a boat.
At the U.N. Ocean Conference taking place this week in Lisbon, momentum has been building in support of a moratorium on deep-sea mining, an activity projected to have far-reaching consequences for marine ecosystems, biodiversity, and global fisheries.
With climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution exacting a devastating toll on the world’s ocean — critical to food security, economic growth, and the environment — the 2022 UN Ocean Conference opened in Lisbon, Portugal with a call for a new chapter of ocean action driven by science, techn ...
Highlighting the IAEA’s initiative, Nuclear Technology for Controlling Plastic Pollution (NUTEC Plastics), launched last year, Mr Grossi emphasized that nuclear applications could help both in the ocean and on land.
The UN Oceans Conference, which is set to run until Friday in Lisbon, should define “drastic actions” to address the ocean emergency, Prime Minister António Costa tweeted on Tuesday after meeting with UN Secretary-General António Guterres in Lisbon.
The old adage ‘There’s plenty more fish in the sea’ has been replaced with the inconceivable ‘By 2050 plastics in the ocean will outweigh fish’ (according to a report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in partnership with The World Economic Forum).
Global experts from the United Nations Environment Programme, The Nature Conservancy, governments, research agencies, and the private sector are coming together to share best practices in improving marine management based on lessons learned around the world.
Oceans are heating up as they cross their natural capacity to sink carbon and atmospheric heat induced by GHGs emissions. It will further disrupts life above the oceans
A healthy ocean is critical to all life on Earth, and the UN Ocean Conference is a step in this direction. However, the ocean’s health is declining – from overfishing to acidification.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wants countries to step up their efforts to conserve the world’s marine resources even as he acknowledged the progress made since the last UN Ocean Conference.
Members of the United Nations (UN) "need to urgently scale up actions" to protect the ocean and mitigate the impacts of climate change, Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan said at the Second United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon on Tuesday
Trade in ocean-based goods showed remarkable resilience during the recession induced by COVID-19 in 2020, according to the latest available data from a new UNCTAD database. Such goods include resources either sourced from the ocean, made from marine resources or manufactured for marine activities.
The United Nations Ocean Conference is currently underway in Portugal’s Lisbon. Ending on 1 July, the conference is attended by heads of state from 20 countries. In the opening speech of the event on 27 June, UN secretary general António Guterres has declared an “ocean emergency” and urged gover ...
At the Sustainable Blue Economy Investment Forum in Cascais, Portugal, a special UN Ocean Conference event, more than 150 major companies have signaled their commitment to a healthy ocean by signing onto the UN Global Compact Sustainable Ocean Principles.
“Life revolves around the climate,” says José Luis “Pepe” Gerhartz, a senior conservation specialist from the Caribbean Biological Corridor Initiative, or CBC, a joint initiative between Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Puerto Rico.
The oceans cover about 70% of the planet’s surface and are the main regulators of global climate. They produce much of the oxygen we breathe and support enormous biodiversity, far richer than what we see on land. But they don’t always get the recognition they deserve.
Cloaked in darkness and mystery, the creatures of the deep oceans exist in a world of unlikely profusion, surviving on scant food and under pressure that would crush human lungs.
For a long time, the great ocean explorers used sight to reveal the secrets of the marine environment, downplaying its acoustic aspects. Indeed, the ocean has long been considered a place devoid of any sound.
When they are in the deep, dark ocean, seals use their whiskers to track down their prey, a study has confirmed after observing the sea mammals in their natural habitat.
When a team of scientists listened to an audio clip recorded underwater off islands in central Indonesia, they heard unusual sounds - something which sounded like a crackling campfire.
As the cherished rainforest in South America's Amazon River region continues to shrink, the river itself now presents evidence of other dangers: the overexploitation of freshwater fish.
Polychaetes are segmented worms that live in nearly all marine habitats, from the shallow seashore or estuaries to the deep sea. They are very abundant, often making up as much as 70% of the animals found in an area. Not only are there many of them, but they are very important in contributing to ...
Coral reefs around the world are in growing danger due to rising temperatures connected with climate change. But in Florida and the Caribbean, marine biologists are racing to fight a new deadly threat. Science correspondent Miles O'Brien reports.
Age Hammeken Danielsen has hunted narwhals since he was a child. He and his father would travel along Greenland’s fjords on a small motorboat, armed with rifles and harpoons and dressed in polar-bear fur trousers and sealskin boots to insulate them against the freezing weather.
In the introduction to his new book, conservation biologist David Shiffman quotes Senegalese forestry engineer and conservationist Baba Dioum: “In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we are taught,” Dioum says.
Human beings have been altering habitats—sometimes deliberately and sometimes accidentally—at least since the end of the last Ice Age. Now, though, that change is happening on a grand scale.
Salmon anglers have called for urgent action to protect Scotland’s wild salmon after the lowest number on record were caught last year.
Seaweed could help feed the world and reduce the impact of the climate emergency, a UN adviser on food has suggested.
Today, the Salton Sea is an eerie place. Its mirror-like surface belies the toxic stew within. Fish skeletons line its shores and the ruins of a once thriving vacation playground is a reminder of better days.
It is one of Britain’s rarest and most threatened species, primarily due to bottom-trawling fishing, but researchers have found that the pink sea fan coral could expand its range in the climate crisis.
The Ocean is the planet’s largest ecosystem, regulating the climate, and providing livelihoods for billions. But its health is in danger. The second UN Ocean Conference, due to take place in June, will be an important opportunity to redress the damage that mankind continues to inflict on marine ...
In an effort to keep the world's coral reefs from disappearing forever, a number of reef restoration projects are currently underway … but how can scientists tell if any one of those projects is working? The answer may lie in listening to the reefs.
A 14-metre long humpback whale freed from entanglement in an illegal drift fishing net off the island of Mallorca has died on another Spanish beach more than 300 kilometres away.
A killer whale - orca - that strayed from the ocean and began swimming up the River Seine in France earlier this month is now at risk of dying, a researcher monitoring the mammal told local media.
Sierra Leone — As dawn breaks, the fishing wharf at Tamba Kula in Freetown buzzes with the movement of early-morning commerce. Fishers just back from days spent far out at sea unload their catch from wooden boats, hauling snapper, barracuda and other fish out of icy compartments into cartons car ...
Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology have found mountains of sugar beneath seagrass meadows across the world's oceans. Seagrass meadows are extremely efficient at capturing carbon, and are one of the world's top carbon capturing ecosystems.
The popping sound, like milk hitting puffed rice cereal, that you hear when putting your head underwater is not your ear adjusting to a different atmosphere – it is the sound of the submarine world.
Our oceans cover more than 70% of our planet and not only do they play a huge role in our climate and weather patterns, they're also home to some of Mother Nature’s most curious creatures and mind-bending natural (and man-made) phenomena. From underwater volcanoes to unique attractions, here are ...
Sea sponges off New Zealand’s southern coastline have been found bleached bone-white for the first time, following extreme ocean temperatures.
The Philippines' coral reefs are among the world's most vibrant-but they're in danger. Although much of the archipelago's underwater beauty is protected, climate change and harmful fishing methods threaten other regions.
Journalists reporting on the status and future of the Colorado River are increasingly using the phrase “dead pool.” It sounds ominous. And it is.
More than 90% of coral reefs surveyed along Australia’s Great Barrier Reef were bleached in recent months due to catastrophically warm ocean temperatures, according to a new report by the top government agency monitoring the structure’s health.
A team of marine biologists have welcomed the discovery of an endangered giant freshwater stingray during a recent expedition to a remote stretch of the Mekong River in Cambodia, though they warned the biodiversity of the area was under threat.
Humans don’t know what they’re missing under the surface of a busy shipping channel in the “cruise capital of the world.” Just below the keels of massive ships, an underwater camera provides a live feed from another world, showing marine life that’s trying its best to resist global warming.
Seagrass meadows are among the most important ecosystems on our planet. According to an estimate, about 50 million tiny invertebrates and 40,000 fish can thrive in just one acre of seagrass.
The Earth is mainly a water world — more than 70 percent of its surface is covered by oceans — and yet we know so little about what resides beneath the waves.
The summit of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park in the northeastern U.S. state of Maine offers sweeping, unobstructed views of Frenchman Bay. Surrounded by islands and rocky shorelines, the bay is known throughout Maine for recreation and resources.
Wander into nature and give a good shout, and only nearby birds, frogs, and squirrels will hear you. Although sensing noise is a critical survival strategy for land animals, it’s a somewhat limited warning system, as sounds—save for something like a massive volcanic explosion—don’t travel far in ...
Sea urchins are dying across the Caribbean at a pace scientists say could rival a mass die-off that last occurred in 1983, alarming many who warn the trend could further decimate already frail coral reefs in the region.
Off the northeast coast of Brazil, the hot morning sun reflects off the sea’s surface as a jangada, a traditional wooden fishing boat, sways gently in the rolling waves.
Coral reefs are a unique and biodiverse natural ecosystem and economic keystones for many communities and nations. They only cover about 0.2% of the ocean floor but support 25% of marine life.
Bleaching in marine sponges in temperate waters off Tasmania’s east coast has been observed for the first time, with scientists warning the discovery could be an indicator of climate change in deeper reef systems.
Juli Berwald’s love affair with coral began when she saw her first reef in college — and it changed her life. Mesmerized by the beauty of these underwater animals, she set out on a path to study marine biology, eventually earning a Ph.D.
What happens when there’s a dead whale on the beach? In many reported strandings, the next steps look quite similar: where possible, biologists and veterinarians examine the carcass and conduct a necropsy to try and figure out why the mammal may have died.
For many South Africans, the quiet and calmness that can be found in the water – one of the rare places with few, if any, human-related threats – has been transformational.
Gorgonians are an order of soft corals that belong to the large group of Cnidaria, which also includes hard corals, sea anemones, jellyfish and many other species. Gorgonians colonize the seabed all over the world, from shallow coastal areas to deep sea canyons, temperate and tropical areas to p ...
In an interesting exercise to showcase the fish biodiversity in Chicalim bay,participants caught and counted 47 fish species and 16 shrimp species.
Coral reefs are a unique and biodiverse natural ecosystem and economic keystones for many communities and nations. They only cover about 0.2% of the ocean floor but support 25% of marine life.
Governments talk of green jobs, green industrial revolutions and creating green new deals. The aim of these efforts is to tackle runaway climate change, biodiversity loss and inequality by remoulding our political and economic systems.
There’s fresh hope for the future of the Great Barrier Reef as scientists and tourism operators are working together to grow new coral and repair the damage from mass bleaching.
The blazing sun, the spectacular beaches, the Mediterranean lifestyle and the gorgeous food. For these reasons and many more, millions of people travel to Greece every year.
Small fish are abundant in the 200-600 m deep Atlantic water layer of the Amundsen Basin, according to a unique hydroacoustic dataset collected by the EFICA Consortium, which revealed a "deep scattering layer" (DSL) consisting of zooplanktion and fish along the MOSAiC expedition's 3170 km long t ...
There are six varieties of pipefish living in British waters, the most noticeable of them being the largest, the greater pipefish, Syngnathus acus. For the amateur, the types are fairly difficult to distinguish from one another, with all species being long, thin and bony, and the juveniles of on ...
In the deepest reaches of the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica lies the Antarctic Bottom Water, a mass of the coldest, densest lower layer of water in Earth's oceans.
When conservation ecologist Rob Harcourt went surfing off the coast of Sydney, Australia, he immediately knew the water was warmer than usual.
If you live in a city or far from the ocean, the word “seafood” might evoke limited imagery. Baked fish fillet. Curry of shrimp, crab or fish. Seaweed jacketing sushi. Or a glob of caviar, if you’re able to afford it.
Scientists are collecting the sounds of the sea to help get a picture of the biodiversity challenges marine life in New Zealand faces. The ocean is louder than you think.
From the “boing” of a minke whale to the “drum” of a red piranha, scientists are documenting more sounds in our world’s oceans, rivers and lakes every year. Now, a team of experts wants to go a step further and create a reference library of aquatic noise to monitor the health of marine ecosystems.
Dozens of tiny, dazzlingly colorful fish swim around a maze of layer upon layer of corals. When divers approach, they hide near a dome-shaped colony.
A hidden forest of algae sponges and hydroids photographed at low tide; a stunning night image of green button polyps under ultraviolet light; and a beautiful shot of a honeycomb moray eel stuck on a ledge on a rocky shore.
The risk of widespread coral bleaching across the Great Barrier Reef has subsided after cloud and rain over the past 10 days caused “substantial cooling” of heat-stressed corals, according to the government’s reef management authority.
It’s the whole ecosystem – just gone in that area,” said James Cole. The eighth or ninth generation of Whitby fishers in his family, Cole has never seen anything like the death and decimation of marine life that has plagued the waters since autumn, from coral, crabs, seals and sea birds.
The UN’s food agency has warned that the “overexploitation” of fish in west Africa by the growing global fishmeal and fish oil industry is having a “considerably negative impact” on food security, undermining the ability of local communities to feed themselves.
The deaths of thousands of fish in the Parramatta River triggered by low oxygen levels in the water is being investigated by the New South Wales environmental regulator.
Amid another record warm year for the planet, one of the most dramatic and alarming changes occurred in our oceans, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Few corals are safe from warming oceans, a new study warns, but studies are finding surprisingly hardy corals, natural sunscreens and how coral ‘IVF’ can regrow reefs
The deep blue covers 70 per cent of the earth and has been a source of intrigue for centuries, swallowing ships and submarines and setting the stage for tales of mythical sea monsters or hidden cities.
Coral reefs are one of the world's most biologically diverse and productive ecosystems. They provide abundant ecological goods and services and are central to the socioeconomic and cultural welfare of coastal and island communities — throughout tropical and subtropical ocean countries — by contr ...
From December 2021 to January 2022 Manta Watch NZ received 99 reported manta ray sightings, concentrated in the Bay of Islands, the Hauraki Gulf, Mercury Island, the Alderman Islands and the Bay of Plenty.
IT'S EARLY August and the research vessel Barba sails at 80 degrees north along the coastline of Svalbard. The endless Arctic sun lies low on the horizon, the ocean is calm, and the temperate a mild 5 degrees.
Marine explorers have discovered a "pristine" 3km (2-mile) coral reef at depths of 30m (100ft) off the coast of Tahiti, French Polynesia. It is one of the largest discovered at that depth, says the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which led the mission.
A few times a day, off the Faroe Islands’ coast, the crew of the Jákup Sverri marine survey ship test the water, measuring its salinity, temperature and oxygen at different sea depths. But they also look for something else.
Good news doesn’t get any more in-your-face than this. One thousand fin whales, one of the world’s biggest animals, were seen last week swimming in the same seas in which they were driven to near-extinction last century due to whaling. It’s like humans never happened.
Corals in the Gulf of Aqaba have a unique evolutionary history that could help them survive the climate crisis. Scientists even hope to breed their resilience into other reefs.
In 1998, a mass bleaching event hit reefs in the Seychelles, leading to a devastating loss of 90% of the African island nation’s live coral. While that event wasn’t caused by climate change (rather by El Niño, a recurring climate pattern that causes ocean warming every few years), global heating ...