Ocean (Page 3)

Oceans cover 70 percent of the Earth. This is the latest on protecting their vast ecosystems.

Latest in Ocean

A harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) on the beach during the summer premoult stage.

When wily sea lions and determined wildlife officials sparred in Seattle

Shipwreck bow covered in sea life underwater

Shipwreck fragment linked to one of WWII’s strangest rescue tales

Masked boobies on Johnston Atoll

Pacific island wildlife refuge spared from SpaceX rocket project

a yellowtail parrotfish swims by a coral reef

Real Coral Reefs of Miami: A Q&A with the marine biologist behind a popular livestream

By Laura Baisas

Orca whale on beach

Wild orcas will sometimes offer food to humans

two sea turtles released into the ocean wearing transponders

17 rehabilitated sea turtles released off Cape Cod

By Laura Baisas

a plastic bag and other garbage on a shoreline

Plastic bag bans work, new study shows

By Lauren Leffer

Huge wave breaking. Ocean spray is thrown into the air. World famous surf break named Jaws on the Northshore of Maui, Hawaii.

What’s the formula for the ‘perfect wave’?

By Avery Schluyer Nunn

A great hammerhead shark swimming close to the surface in Bimini, Bahamas, Caribbean Sea.

Young hammerhead sharks love Biscayne Bay. Leave them alone, humans.

By Laura Baisas

a leopad seal with its mouth wide open

15 riveting images from the 2025 UN World Oceans Day Photo Competition

By Popular Science Team

Gonatus Antarcticus squid seen underwater

Watch the mesmerizing first-ever footage of a rare Antarctic squid

a blue fish with a pointy face in a california kelp forest

Q&A with the team behind ‘Ocean with David Attenborough’

By Laura Baisas

Dead coral sit on the ocean bed in the Straits of Florida near Key Largo, Florida, on September 23, 2021. The coral is very gray and white

Probiotics can help heal ravaged coral reefs

By Laura Baisas

a humpback whale calf swims in front of its mother

Humpback whales can give birth while migrating thousands of miles

By Laura Baisas

Close up of deep sea squid

Humans have only seen 0.001 percent of the ocean floor

World War II jeep found at site of underwater shipwreck

NOAA needs help identifying car found in WWII shipwreck

Spotted dolphin with head above water

Google made an AI model to talk to dolphins

Green ocean island water against blue sky with mountains in distance

Earth’s oceans weren’t always blue, scientists say

an baby orca surfaces behind its mother

Baby orca is a descendent of a whale almost sold to SeaWorld in 1976

By Laura Baisas

Mako shark swimming with orange octopus on its back

Shark’s ‘mystery hat’ turns out to be a giant octopus

a man in a diving tube on text

100 years of deep-sea filmmaking and ocean exploration

By Bill Gourgey

Blue-lined octopus in aquarium tank

Male octopus poisons its mate to avoid becoming post-sex snack

A mother humpback whale and her calf swimming in warm waters.

Whale pee moves vital nutrients thousands of miles

By Laura Baisas

a seal with grey coloring wearing an orange heart rate monitor around its abdomen

Baby seals are wearing heart monitors–for science

By Laura Baisas

ROV screenshot of OceanGate Titan wreckage tail section

Listen to chilling underwater audio of the OceanGate ‘Titan’ implosion

The bow of the RMS Titanic as it sits under the water.

‘Titanic’ artifact salvage efforts paused indefinitely

a puffin, whale tail at sunset, and a sea turtle

13 dramatic photos that capture the beauty of marine sanctuaries

By Popular Science Team

a small blue-colored penguin called a little penguin swims in the ocean

Turtles and penguins have a swimming sweet spot that reduces drag

By Laura Baisas

a new shrimp-like crustacean. it is white with two protruding tusk-like appendages at its head, at least 8 legs, and two tail-like appendages at the back

New predator uncovered 25,000+ feet under the Pacific

By Laura Baisas

a microscopic zooplankton

Microscopic ‘eating and pooping machines’ are great at sucking up carbon

By Laura Baisas

Nautilus captured on video

After 15 years, a vessel named ‘Nautilus’ actually saw a nautilus

an orca whale dorsal fin coming out of the water

Orcas observed preying on massive whale sharks

By Laura Baisas

a photo from the movie "moana 2." a whale shark swims by a group of voyagers on the ocean

‘We know the way’: How Polynesian voyagers navigate Earth’s biggest ocean

By Laura Baisas

Looking from the stern of the ship as it tows the long horizontal array of hydrophones. The tow cable can be seen going through the metal horn at the stern. The hydrophone array is several hundred meters behind the ship and about 200 meters deep. Credit: Ross Chapman

New theory explains mysterious ocean quacking first heard in the 1960s

bottlenose dolphin screaming

A lone dolphin has been yelling into Baltic Sea for years

By Mack DeGeurin

A mother and calf West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) in Crystal River, Florida.

Florida’s famous manatees were originally tourists

By Laura Baisas

An eye and arms of an octopus. The small dots visible around the eye are the chromatophores.

For octopuses, changing colors is hard work

By Lauren Leffer

A diver from National Geographic Pristine Seas measures the world’s largest coral colony in the Solomon Islands.

World’s largest coral discovered and it’s longer than a blue whale

By Laura Baisas

a colorful coral reef with fish swimming above it

Chlorine and cocoa butter may help disease-ridden corals

By Laura Baisas

a new mollusc with a hood over its head

New deep-sea slug catches crustaceans like a Venus fly trap

By Laura Baisas

two sperm whales singing

New method for finding sperm whales kind of works like a rideshare app

By Laura Baisas

A photograph showing two big and two little Pyrocystis noctiluca.

Why these plankton puff up to 6x bigger than normal

By Laura Baisas

USS Stewart bow shipwreck with barnacles and crabs

‘Ghost Ship of the Pacific’ rediscovered with underwater drones

glass bowl filled with brown seaweed

Bye, kale: Marine scientists want you to eat more seaweed

By Alisha McDarris

Video screenshot of piece of OceanGate Titan wreckage

The OceanGate Titan implosion left a 30,000-square-meter debris field

Scientists observed two bowhead whales synchronizing dive schedules whenever they were within earshot of each other.

Whales may be communicating across vast distances

By Joanna Thompson / Hakai Magazine

Caption: An octopus cyanea hunting with a blacktip grouper on one side and a gold-saddle goatfish (‘blue goatfish’) on the other.

Octopus and fish join forces to hunt together

By Lauren Leffer

A panoramic sand dune of sahara desert at Mhamid el Ghizlane in Morocco wide shot.

Saharan dust sustains life all over the Atlantic Ocean

a wave rising up from a flat sea

Extreme 3D ocean waves can reach heights 4x steeper than previously thought

By Laura Baisas

a Byrde's whale surfaces to breathe in the Pacific Ocean

Elusive whale’s vocalization could be their version of ‘Marco Polo’

By Laura Baisas

a red fish with a grumpy expression and large teeth

Seriously grumpy-faced fish discovered in Red Sea

By Laura Baisas

Germany’s North and Baltic Seas are littered with munitions from the First and Second World Wars, such as shells—as shown here—once fired from German battleships.

The big Baltic bomb cleanup

By Paul Hockenos / Hakai Magazine

a whale surfaces next to a large fishing trawler

Whales need krill to survive. We want it for supplements.

By Laura Baisas

Titanic bow wreckage underwater

The famous railing from ‘Titanic’ has broken off from Titanic

a small white and red squid

New images of deep sea wonders are surprisingly adorable

By Laura Baisas

Closeup of yellow and green fishing net

The long road to ropeless fishing

By Moira Donovan / Hakai Magazine

Port Jackson sharks sleeping on the seafloor at Beagle Marine Park.

Watch a huge ‘No Boys Allowed’ shark slumber party

By Laura Baisas

Colorful atlantic puffin sitting on a cliff

In Iceland, humans throwing baby puffins is a good thing

By Alisha McDarris

The newly discovered Paragonaster hoeimaruae. There are many types of starfish and this one is particularly adapted to living in sandy, muddy waters, a feature the researchers want to learn more about.

New, vibrant starfish discovered in Japan

By Laura Baisas

two sea lions swim in blue water, with their heads above the water

Sea lion camera crews help scientists map unexplored seabeds

By Laura Baisas

a walrus calf with a cut on its right eye is cared for by two technicians

Abandoned Pacific walrus calf rescued in Alaska

By Laura Baisas

Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) breaching ocean in an attack.

Sharks are testing positive for cocaine

Polymetallic nodules scattered across bottom of the ocean floor

‘Dark oxygen’ on ocean floor may rewrite Earth’s origins of life

a small grey and black reef fish swims

Fish in Earth’s hottest water defy the odds

By Laura Baisas