Ocean

Researchers at MIT have developed a new algorithm that takes stock of ocean conditions to determine in real-time where stranded items and people are likely to appear, which could give the efficiency of search and rescue operations a big boost.

Marine life near the surface of the ocean is much different than that which lives in the deeps. In order to get a better understanding of how those regions differ, scientists have created a biological probe that free-falls through the water.

Much of Earth has been steadily warming, which we now understand is a product of climate change. But in parts of the Southern Ocean around Antarctica, sea surfaces cooled considerably since the early 1980s. And now, scientists think they know why.

Forget space – the oceans are Earth’s final frontier. The latest case in point is a diving expedition off the coast of Western Australia, which has discovered up to 30 new species plus what may be the longest animal ever recorded.

The world’s oceans play an important role in regulating the balance of CO2 in the atmosphere, but a new study suggests we may have been greatly underestimating the effectiveness of this vast carbon sink.

Although seawalls certainly do protect coastal communities from storm surge waves, those walls can be unsightly, and restrict access to the water. A proposed new system gets around those problems, by doubling as a canopy when not serving storm duty.

The winners of this year's Nikon Surf Photo and Video Awards highlight an incredible array of images spanning the entire world. The top prize went to a spectacular shot taken at iconic Western Australian surf spot, The Right.

Scientists studying the movement of seafloor sediment have found that underwater avalanches are driving microplastics into the deep ocean, which may help researchers better map the distribution of waste throughout the marine environment.

We keep finding life thriving under conditions we’d previously ruled out. The latest example comes from studies of rock cores drilled from the floor of the Indian Ocean, where microbes were discovered alive and well under almost half a mile of rock.

Although autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are electrically-powered, they're launched from fuel-burning surface vessels. A new, more environmentally-friendly system is being designed to replace those ships with wave-powered underwater AUV stations.

It covers almost three quarters of the Earth, but we know only a fraction of what lies beneath the ocean’s surface. Google’s parent company Alphabet has today launched a new initiative called Tidal aimed at changing that.

New research has shed light on how nuclear war could seriously alter the chemistry of Earth’s oceans, and in so doing damage the life that dwells within. The scientists used an advanced climate model to predict a range of nuclear scenarios.