Oceans

Animals

Deep-sea Arctic sponges feed on fossilized organisms to survive

Slow-moving sponges, living deep in the Arctic Ocean where no currents deliver food, scavenge a carpet of long-dead critters.

Oceans

The past’s extreme ocean heat waves are now the new normal

Marine heat waves that were rare more than a century ago now routinely occur in more than half of global ocean, suggesting we’ve hit a “point of no return.”

Climate

Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier ice shelf could collapse within five years

The loss of Thwaites’ buttressing ice shelf could hasten the demise of the “Doomsday Glacier” and raise the risk of dramatic sea level rise.

Oceans

The Southern Ocean is still swallowing large amounts of humans’ carbon dioxide emissions

A 2018 study suggested the ocean surrounding Antarctica might be taking up less CO₂ than thought, but new data suggest it is still a carbon sink.

Environment

Corals may store a surprising amount of microplastics in their skeletons

In tropical waters, coral reefs may be a “sink” for tiny bits of plastic debris. It’s unclear how corals’ trash pickup might affect reef health.

Life

Albatrosses divorce more often when ocean waters warm

In one part of the Falkland Islands, up to 8 percent of the famously faithful birds ditch partners in years when the ocean is warmer than average.

Earth

Scientists are racing to save the Last Ice Area, an Arctic Noah’s Ark

The Last Ice Area may be the final refuge for summer sea ice and the creatures that depend on it. Saving it is an ambitious goal with many hurdles.

Animals

How intricate Venus’s-flower-baskets manipulate the flow of seawater

Simulations show that a deep-sea glass sponge’s intricate skeleton creates particle-trapping vortices and reduces the stress of rushing water.

Animals

‘Fathom’ seeks to unravel humpback whales’ soulful songs

The film ‘Fathom’ on Apple TV+ follows the quest of researchers on the ocean’s surface to decipher the eerie symphony of humpback whale calls below.

Earth

A new book uses stories from tsunami survivors to decode deadly waves

In ‘Tsunami: The World’s Greatest Waves,’ two scientists chronical hundreds of eyewitness accounts to show the human cost of life at the water’s edge.

Paleontology

Something mysteriously wiped out about 90 percent of sharks 19 million years ago

Deep sediments beneath the Pacific Ocean revealed a mystery: a massive shark die-off with no obvious cause.

Animals

A common antibiotic slows a mysterious coral disease

Applying the antibiotic amoxicillin to infected lesions halted tissue death in corals for at least 11 months after treatment.