Scientists have discovered the world's largest known field of sea grass. They did it using videos shot by some unusual helpers: tiger sharks. The work should help protect the sea grass, and also shows off a powerful way to explore the ocean.
Posts tagged as “oceans”
On May 7, "eco-mermaid" Merle Liivand broke her own world record for swimming with a single fin. She swam the distance of a full marathon in the rough waters of Biscayne Bay, Florida. She even picked trash out of the water as she swam.
Scientists have discovered what they believe is the world's largest plant, an underwater field of sea grass that stretches for 112 miles (180 kilometers) off the west coast of Australia. The sea grass plant is believed to be around 4,500 years old.
The group in charge of caring for Australia's Great Barrier Reef reports that the reef appears to be going through another widespread coral "bleaching" event. Once again, rising ocean temperatures are threatening this massive underwater treasure.
Over a hundred years after it sank near Antarctica, the ship of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton has been found. The ship, called 'Endurance', sank after it got trapped in the ice in the Weddell Sea in 1915. Now it has been found using underwater robots.
Worldwide, many groups are pushing governments to protect 30% of the world's oceans by 2030. Today, NFK looks at new marine reserves created by Ecuador and Bangladesh in an effort to protect large areas of the oceans near them.
Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso has announced that a huge new section will be added to the protected area of ocean around the Galapagos islands. The move will make one of the world's largest marine reserves almost 50% larger.
Crews in southern California are working to contain one of the area's largest oil spills in recent years. The spill, which began on Friday, has killed fish and birds, damaged protected areas, and covered nearby beaches with tar.
In today's news roundup, the struggle continues as the world reaches 200 million coronavirus cases, Olympic athletes are breaking records on a high-tech track, and a scientist spots a real life SpongeBob look-alike deep under the sea.
A self-driving ship named after the Mayflower has been forced to turn back as it tried to re-create the cross-Atlantic trip made by the original Mayflower in 1620. The group behind the effort says the journey will begin again soon.
Today NFK looks at three recent stories about whales. Endangered Atlantic right whales are shrinking in size; an endangered Pacific gray whale makes a record-setting trip; and scientists use bomb detectors to find an unknown group of pygmy blue whales.