Oceans

A gloomy octopus among piles of discarded shells at Octlantis

Octopus 'City' Found Off the Coast of Australia

Expected to live as loners, gloomy octopuses may actually live in groups bustling with activity

Yes, oysters can get herpes.

Oysters Can Get Herpes, And It's Killing Them

A deadly virus threatens to decimate oyster populations around the world

Cargo Ships May Double Lightning Strikes in Their Path

Ship exhaust impacts cloud formation, which may influence lightning over busy shipping lanes

We hear a lot about the over-extraction of oil, but less about the consequences of the sand trade.

The World is Running Out of Sand

The little-known exploitation of this seemingly infinite resource could wreak political and environmental havoc

A baby gray whale surfaces in Magdalena Bay, Baja, Mexico.

A Whale’s Baleen Bristles Reveal the Story of Its Life

Like tree rings, these layered plates hold chemical clues to how the animals adapt to a changing world

The Queen's Head, Yehliu Geological Park

Taiwan's Yehliu Geopark Is Like Disneyland for Rock Lovers

These mushroom-like mounds are some of the country's greatest geological treasures

A Scopali's shearwater skims the water's surface.

Seabirds Use Their Sense of Smell to Navigate Open Water

A new study suggests shearwaters follow their nose home

Discussion

Feedback from our readers

The H.L. Hunley, a confederate Civil War era submarine, sits in its water tank at the Hunley Lab in North Charleston, SC.

One Scientist May Have Finally Figured Out the Mystery of Why a Civil War Submarine Sank

A Navy engineer used creative modeling and her knowledge of underwater explosions to tackle the century-old Hunley conundrum

This slimy green algae is far more complex than the type that helped fuel the formation of modern creatures, but it's a distant relative.

How Microscopic Algae Kick-Started Life As We Know It

Some 650 million years ago, algae took over the seas, which may have been a needed spark in the formation of complex life

In a healthy reef, coral symbionts make food for the coral animal.

A Blueprint for Genetically Engineering a Super Coral

Why some researchers are proposing a drastic measure to save a threatened ecosystem

Etmopterus lailae

This Tiny, Bulbous-Nosed Shark Glows in the Dark

After 17 years of study, scientists finally confirm that the oddball creature is a new species

This month, several news outlets misleadingly reported that women's birth control was causing "transgender" fish.

How One Bad Science Headline Can Echo Across the Internet

Recent articles claiming birth control causes “transgender" fish show how science communication can mislead—even when it relies on facts

The fin of a blacktip shark glides through the waters in the Bahamas.

Ten Things We've Learned about Sharks Since Last Shark Week

In light of Shark Week 2017, here are some revelations about the fearsome fish we’ve made in the past year

Snooty, World's Oldest Captive Manatee, Dies in Accident

The 69-year-old sea cow was the mascot for the South Florida Museum

Marianne Nyegaard poses next to a beached hoodwinker sunfish near Christchurch, New Zealand.

Found: New Species of Ocean Sunfish, the World’s Largest Bony Fish

After identifying genetic traces of the creature, one researcher spent years searching for the aquatic beast

The preserved whale heart weighs approximately 400 pounds.

The Painstaking Process of Preserving a 400-Pound Blue Whale Heart

This massive specimen is now on display in Canada’s Royal Ontario Museum

Thousands of Mysterious Yellow "Sponges" Wash Up On French Beaches

Though experts were initially stumped, the substance has now been identified

Watch the Sri Lankan Navy Rescue an Elephant Stranded at Sea

It took 12 hours for a team of navy personnel, divers and wildlife officials to pull the creature back to shore

A scuba diver swims in the coral reefs of Palau. Beneath the depths that humans can dive, natural wonder and a better understanding of our planet awaits.

Why The First Complete Map of the Ocean Floor Is Stirring Controversial Waters

Charting these watery depths could transform oceanography. It could also aid deep sea miners looking for profit

Page 46 of 76