Mass coral bleaching in 2014 left the Coral Reef Monitoring Program monitoring site at Cheeca Rocks off the Florida Keys a blanket of white.
NOAA
Water temperatures in the 90s off Florida in July are alarming, a NOAA coral scientist writes. Scientists in several North American countries have already spotted coral bleaching off their coasts.
We could sink more carbon in the ocean to fight climate change, but should we?
Eric Lafforgue/Art in All of Us/Corbis via Getty Images
From planting mangroves to dumping minerals in the ocean, there are lots of ideas for ocean carbon dioxide removal – and even more questions.
The Chagos Reef was vibrant before the heat wave.
Ken Marks/Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation
Scientists watched in real time as rising ocean heat transformed the sprawling reef. It was a harbinger for ecosystems everywhere as the planet warms.
Courtesy of the Grass Foundation.
A marine version of the Stanford marshmallow experiment helped show cuttlefish can delay gratification.
A sea cucumber living on the Great Barrier Reef inter-reef seafloor.
Kent Holmes/Nature Ecology and Evolution
We are only just beginning to understand the importance of this deep and hidden area of the inter-reef that supports a rich diversity of marine life.
Everything in an animal’s body is made out of cells. And these cells need chemicals, such as salt, in and around them to work properly. The chemical balance needs to be just right.
Alyse & Remi/flickr
Some animals, such as ghost shrimps can even cope with water that is saltier than normal seawater. It’s all down to evolution.
Some sea creatures are displaced by the desalination plant, but others actually grow.
Supplied
Pumping very salty water into the ocean has surprisingly little impact on marine life.
shutterstock.
The bird faces a wave of challenges – from climate change to human hunters.
A baleen whale feeding in the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand.
Dr Krista Hupman
There are plenty of mammals that have adapted to life in water, some more than others. That meant they also had to adapt the way they feed.
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The next cancer breakthrough could be found in international waters – but who’s in charge of the high seas?
The Thames whale: a rather lost northern bottlenose.
Dylan Martinez/Reuters
It didn’t turn out well for the whale who went to Westminster, but others have made a happy home in British waters.
Beautiful outside, monster inside.
dachalan
Sea life can be fascinating and terrifying at the same time. Some creatures look beautiful on the outside but harbour darkness within. Some of the scariest tactics of the deep sea go on display when these…