Scientists on a National Geographic research trip to the Solomon Islands have discovered the world's largest coral. The single coral colony, made up of around one billion tiny creatures, is so large that it can be seen from space.
Posts tagged as “oceans”
Australian scientists have come up with a clever way to study hard-to-reach areas of the sea floor: they attached cameras to sea lions. The resulting videos have given scientists new information about the endangered sea lions, and also about the sea floor.
Scientists have discovered a surprising new source of oxygen in the ocean. They believe that special rocks on the sea floor may act like batteries, creating oxygen from salt water. The discovery raises new questions about the effects of deep-sea mining.
The world's largest iceberg, an icy island three times the size of New York City, has broken loose. The iceberg, called A23a, broke free from an Antarctic ice shelf in 1987, and has been grounded for over 30 years. Now it's floating in the open ocean.
Scientists have reported that Antarctica's sea ice is at a record low level. That's worrying because the sea ice is an important part of the Earth's cooling system. It's not yet clear if the low sea ice level is temporary, or part of a changing climate pattern.
On August 21, a cargo ship traveling from Singapore to Brazil became the first to try out a new kind of sail. The sail is expected to save fuel and cut pollution. If it works well, similar sails could become common on cargo ships over the next few years.
In a world-record effort to help save a rare sea creature, Australian scientists have released hundreds of baby seahorses into the wild. The tiny seahorses are endangered, and the scientists hope the new seahorses will help their numbers grow.
People who have trouble walking or moving around often have a hard time enjoying the beach. But hundreds of beaches in Greece now offer a new way for people in wheelchairs to get into the water by themselves. It's called Seatrac.
Recently, people around the world have been experiencing some of the hottest weather ever recorded. In some places, the weather has been so hot that it's been dangerous. The extreme weather is being caused by climate change.
Dr. Joseph Dituri, also known as "Dr. Deep Sea", has just finished an amazing adventure. For 100 days, the University of South Florida teacher lived in a small room underwater. He set a new world record, beating the old record of 73 days.
If you've ever seen elephant seals lying on a beach, you might think all they do is sleep. But now scientists have discovered that when elephant seals are in the ocean, they hardly sleep at all. On average, the seals sleep just two hours a day.