Oceans

Oceans

Saharan dust explains Bahamas’ paradoxical existence

Windswept dust from the Sahara Desert may fertilize bacteria that built the Bahamas.

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.