Monster 78-Foot Wave Recorded in the Southern Ocean
At 78 feet tall, and churned by a fierce storm, it’s the largest wave ever recorded in the southern hemisphere, New Zealand scientists report.
Missing Flight MH370 Inspires New Way to Locate Ocean Impacts
The Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 investigation has been reopened with the help of a private firm. Its incomplete story has refused to offer closure to the families of its 239 victims and has sparked conspiracy theories. But scientists have continued investigating the impact since it occurred three and a half years…
An Enormous Hole in Antarctica’s Sea Ice Could Help Solve a Climate Riddle
An enormous hole in the the wintertime sea ice surrounding Antarctica is attracting considerable scientific attention. Researchers think the so-called Weddell polynya is part of a natural cycle, but its present size—the biggest it’s been since it was first spotted in the 1970s—could help us understand the processes…
Sad New Deep Sea Shark Reminds Us We Can't All Be Great Whites
The tiger shark patrols the seas alone at night, prepared to eat anything from a bird to a dolphin. The goblin shark live in the ocean’s canyons and abysses, grabbing prey by surprise with its extendable jaws. A great white shark can grow as large as a Mercedes.
Australia Releases Trove of Scientific Data from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 Search
It can be hard to look for the bright side in a tragedy. But resolving tragedies often requires an immense amount of human effort, and that effort results in new knowledge. New genetic forensics techniques emerged from the identification of 9/11 victims, for example. Another tragedy, the disappearance of Malaysia…
An Enormous Deep Sea 'Desert' Is Teeming With New Forms of Life
It doesn’t have towering canopies or jewel-toned corals, but an enormous region of the eastern Pacific that was long considered a biological wasteland is proving to be anything but. New research reveals that the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ), which is being prospected for deep ocean mining, is teeming with…
Scientists Discover Mysterious Purple Blob at the Bottom of the Ocean
We’re not saying it’s aliens, but a team of scientists has just discovered a glowing purple orb at the bottom of the ocean, and if you’ve ever seen The Abyss, I think you know how this will end.
New Simulation Extends Possible Crash Site of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370
Italian researchers have used the location of confirmed debris from Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370, which disappeared two years ago, to estimate where the missing airliner might have crashed, and where further debris may be found onshore. Their simulations show that the wreckage may lie upwards of 310 miles further…
El Niño Gives California Crabs
This year’s monster El Niño is truly a monster—it’s been blamed for killing coral reefs. Add another die-off to the list: Southern California beaches are blanketed in hundreds of thousands of tiny crabs. So many that it’s turning the beaches red.
The Oceans Are Running Low on Oxygen
File this under definitely not good: global warming is depleting the oceans of oxygen. You know, that little molecule that we, along with all other complex life forms, require in order to breathe and therefore live.
Deep-Diving Robot Discovers Mysterious and Adorable Octopus Species
Would you just look at him? Sprung to life out of a Pixar movie, the ghostly little fella pictured above was discovered last month by Deep Discoverer, the deep-diving robot that travels with NOAA’s Okeanos Explorer. Spotted 4,290 meters beneath the surface, it’s the deepest observation of a so-called incirrate octopus…
First Audio Recordings From the Bottom of the Mariana Trench are Nightmare Fuel
Deep rumbles, unearthly moans, high pitched screeching: these are but a few elements of the alien soundscape researchers have now recorded for the first time at Challenger Deep, the deepest known valley on the seafloor.
We Know Exactly Where all the Heat From the 'Global Warming Hiatus' Went
You might remember hearing about the global warming “hiatus” a few years back—a pause in Earth’s inexorably rising temperature, which some used as evidence that climate change is a hoax. But scientists are now completely sure that the pause never happened. And we know exactly where the missing heat wound up.
Meet NASA’s Newest Ocean-Exploring Satellite Before it Launches Tomorrow
SpaceX is launching the planet’s newest oceanographic satellite tomorrow morning. Here’s the scoop on Jason-3, and how “sea level” is one of those little white lies you learned in school.
New XPrize Encourages Robotic Ocean Exploration
We know surprisingly little about our oceans. To help with this glaring blind spot, the XPrize has announced a new $7 million contest to foster innovations in ocean exploration technology.
This Is How the Ocean Makes Earth Livable
Seventy percent of Earth’s surface is ocean, and without it, the other 30 percent would barely be inhabitable. The ocean absorbs and distributes heat around the globe, and it acts as a planet-sized CO2 scrubber, saving us all from a runaway greenhouse effect like the one that turned Venus into a hell-world. But the…
Here's How we Started Measuring the Oceans from Space
February 8, 1973: Biologist Ellen Weaver creates a sensor package to measure ocean temperature and detect chlorophyll levels. The sensors were loaded onto communications and weather satellites in NASA’s first foray into sea productivity monitoring.
After the Supermoon, Comes the Supertide
Many locations along the UK, US and Australian coasts will experience their highest tides for tens of years around September 29 or 30. Coastal roads in Miami, for instance, have already been closed in anticipation of exceptional tides.
An Animated Short About the Ocean That Will Almost Definitely Make You Laugh
I know an animated short about an environmentally conscious shark maybe isn’t the kind of thing you’d normally watch but STAY WITH ME. DON’T GO INTO YOUR ZONE WHERE YOU DON’T WANNA HEAR, OKAY? This video is hilarious. It will make your day better, and you should watch it.
A New Migration Record for Blue Whales, and Why it's Important
In 1998, researchers photographed and collected DNA from a female pygmy blue whale off the coast of the Galapagos Islands. Eight years later, another team did the same with a similar-looking whale in the waters off Chile. Turns out, it was the same whale.
