Blue carbon is stored in mangroves, seagrass and sediments. Discussions at the UN Ocean Decade conference reiterate the importance of preserving existing sea floor habitats, before it’s too late.
Wetlands at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland shows signs of ‘pitting,’ where areas of cordgrass have converted to open water.
Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program via Wikimedia
A coastal scientist explains why marshes, mangroves and other wetlands can’t keep up with the effects of climate change, and how human infrastructure is making it harder for them to survive.
An instrument on the Europa Clipper mission might be able to detect biological cells from space.
A pair of North Atlantic right whales interact at the surface of Cape Cod Bay, in Massachusetts, in March, 2023. Global warming is rapidly acidifying the oceans with dire implications for marine life.
(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, NOAA permit #21371)
Global warming is making the oceans more acidic. Our work aims to design realistic systems to reduce this acidity, and remove carbon from the atmosphere in the process.
Egg cases found along the foreshore can tell scientists a lot about the abundance and life cycles of sharks and rays.
Ross Mahon/Shutterstock
Egg cases of sharks and rays can be found washed up on the shore. Citizen science data helps scientists understand the life cycles of these marine animals and how to best conserve them.
Marine biologists are collecting spores from healthy kelp forests to help restore coastal habitats.
Marine Biological Association 2024
Kelp seaweed spores are being grown on small rocks and waste scallop shells as part of a trial exploring how to regenerate the UK’s coastal kelp forests.
40,000 turtles are caught in nets annually.
Philipp Kanstinger
Artificial reef stars have been added to damaged coral reefs in Sulawesi, Indonesia. A new study shows that within just four years, restored reefs are thriving as much as healthy reefs.
Long lifespans and slow reproduction rates make deep-water sharks and rays as vulnerable to overexploitation as whales once were. We must place them under protection to avoid extinctions.
Seabirds like this sooty shearwater can drown when they become tangled in drift nets and other fishing gear.
Roy Lowe, USFWS/Flickr
The toll on wildlife from illegal fishing, bycatch and entanglement in fishing gear is likely underestimated, because it doesn’t account for ‘dark’ fishing vessels, a new study finds.
So much ocean plastic originates from sources on land, but once floating in the sea it poses a risk to marine wildlife and habitats.
Rich Carey/Shutterstock
As it travels around the ocean, plastic litter can harm wildlife and marine habitats in many ways. This study highlights five key hotspots where floating plastic poses the biggest risk.
A piece of debris thought to belong to MH370 on display in 2019.
EPA/Fazry Ismail
It remains one of the biggest aviation mysteries – the tragic disappearance of passenger flight MH370. But a new, targeted search of the seabed could still yield answers.
Dolphins can communicate very effectively.
Arielle Allouche/Unsplash
Many seabird colonies around UK coastlines struggle to breed because the sandeels they feed on have been overfished. The upcoming closure of sandeel fisheries will be good news for marine wildlife.
Too much fresh water from Greenland’s ice sheet can slow the Atlantic Ocean’s circulation.
Paul Souders/Stone via Getty Images