Oceans
- Environment
Microplastics lodge in crab gills and guts
Crabs can absorb microplastic particles through their gills and by eating polluted mussels.
- Environment
Plastic goes missing at sea
A survey of the world’s oceans finds far less polymer trash than expected, and researchers don’t know where the rest of the plastic is.
- Oceans
Dusk heralds a feeding frenzy in the waters off Oahu
Even dolphins benefit when layers of organisms in the water column overlap for a short period.
- Climate
Violent storms may shatter sea ice
Tall waves’ effect on sea ice hints at troubled water in the future.
- Ecosystems
Deep-sea trawling threatens oceans’ health
Dragging large nets along the seafloor to catch fish cuts organic matter and biodiversity in half and may threaten all of the world's underwater ecosystems.
- Oceans
Deepwater Horizon methane lingered longer than thought
Microbes may not have consumed methane from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill as fast as previously thought.
- Animals
Secrets of a sailfish attack
The large, long-nosed sailfish use their rostrums more like a sword than a spear to attack prey.
- Climate
Reef fish act drunk in carbon dioxide–rich ocean waters
In first test in the wild, fish near reefs that bubble with CO2 lose fear of predators’ scent.
- Oceans
The surprising life of a piece of sunken wood
Timber and trees that wash out to sea and sink to the bottom of the ocean hold a diverse community of organisms.
- Climate
Ocean bacteria may have shut off ancient global warming
Ocean-dwelling bacteria may have helped end global warming 56 million years ago by gobbling up carbon from the CO2-laden atmosphere.
- Earth
How the Chicxulub impact made acid rain
Using lasers to accelerate materials to asteroid-like impact velocities, scientists have shown how the Chicxulub asteroid impact, which happened roughly 65 million years ago, could have created a mass extinction in the oceans.
- Animals
Spotted seals hear well in and out of water
Spotted seals, native to the northern parts of the Pacific, hear frequencies that may mean they are susceptible to the effects of anthropogenic noise.
