The idea that there’s a moral imperative for humans to expand beyond Earth is echoed by influential proponents of space exploration.
Tamara Craiu/Flickr
Technology had enabled humans to explore the deep sea, the Earth’s poles, and outer space. But we shouldn’t forget historical lessons about frontiers in the process of traversing them.
Commerce and Sea Power, William Lionel Wyllie, 1898.
Guildhall Art Gallery
Most ocean species start out as larvae drifting with currents. Using underwater robots, scientists have found that larvae use swimming motions to affect their course and reach suitable places to grow.
The second-noisiest animal in the ocean, the snapping shrimp.
Dr Tullio Rossi
The oceans are filled with sounds produced by animals. However, a recent study shows that ocean sounds are diminishing due to nutrient pollution and ocean acidification.
Australia’s oceans are feeding grounds for many wildlife species, including seabirds.
Ed Dunens/Flickr
We tend to think of the oceans as quiet, when in fact they’re anything but. Noise is the “forgotten pollutant”, but the good news is that unlike many other pollutants it can be switched off if we try.
The endangered Hawaiian monk seal is one of the 7,000 species that gained a measure of protection.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument is huge win for preservation, but it also poses outsized management challenges for the National Park Service.
Cartier Island marine reserve is part of a network that covers one-third of Australian waters.
Australian Institute of Marine Science
Marine parks need to cover large swathes of ocean, but they also need to cover the right areas if they are to deliver the best conservation. New research off Australia’s northwest suggests how.
Scientists are using detailed computer models of the ocean to trace debris back through the currents to the potential crash site.
Billions of dollars are lost yearly to illegal fishing, with West Africa being one of the worst-affected regions.
Commander, US Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. 6th/Flickr
How flawed citation practices can perpetuate scientific ideas even before they’ve been fully established as true.
A mass proliferation of Noctiluca scintillans, a red tide forming dinoflagellate at Clovelly Beach, NSW. It can form dense aggregations that deplete oxygen and produce ammonia.
Gurjeet Kohli
They give us part of the air we breathe but microscopic phytoplankton can also be toxic. They are also on the move thanks to climate change so a new Australian database hopes to monitor any changes.
Nice to see you: parrotfishes prey on seaweed, which consume seaweeds that can outcompete, smother or even poison corals.
Corinne Fuchs
A combination of factors – pollution, disease and overfishing – is harming corals but scientists have found clues to effective treatment by studying corals’ microbiome.
What scientists first thought was an ancient species that had survived undiscovered for many millions of years, turns out to be part of something equally mysterious.
Marine sediments provide evidence of climate variability in South Africa going back 270,000 years. These changes correspond with changes in the archaeological record of the country.
Coral affected by black band disease, Bahamas.
James St. John/Flickr
Infectious diseases are a normal part of ocean ecosystems, just as they are on land. But climate change is altering the oceans in ways that could make marine diseases spread farther and faster.