Spotlight: The Miraculous Corals We Could Lose to the Climate Emergency

Coral reefs are among the miracles in our planet's remarkable ocean. They're symbiotic communities of living organisms, a true marvel of biological processes. But their survival is severely threatened by climate change. Here's what we're losing, from whip corals to fan corals to stony corals to lophelia corals to coral species that haven't even been …

Pic o’ the Week: SpongeBob SquarePants & Patrick Star Sighting?!

Ocean scientists and enthusiasts alike have been spending pandemic days this month tuned in to NOAA's live dives as its research vessel Okeanos explores seamounts in the Atlantic Ocean ... ... patiently tracking the ROV as it plies the watery depths ... When suddenly!! What to scientist Christopher Mah's wondering eyes should appear but ... …

Spotlight: Okeanos Explores the Deep Pacific … & You Can Too

This is really cool stuff folks! NOAA is exploring the deep sea and you can join in from your desk

Spotlight: Exploring the Ocean – “there’s still 97 percent”

"Only the ocean remains as the last great unexplored portion of our globe; so it is to the sea that man must turn to meet the last great challenge of exploration this side of outer space.” --Deep Challenge (1966) by H. B. Stewart Marine biologist David Gallo brings the mind-bending world of ocean exploration alive …

Pic o’ the Week: Dusky Dolphin Ballet

A dusky dolphin goes perpendicular to a New Zealand sea. These dolphins,Lagenorhynchus obscurus, are found in coastal waters of the southern hemisphere, and are known for their masterful acrobatics. Lovely photo by Dr. Mridula Srinivasan, courtesy NOAA/NMFS

Pic o’ the Week: Unidentified Deep Sea Fish

This curious creature, seen in Indonesian waters in the Sangihe Talaud Region, has not yetbeen definitively identified by scientists. The Little Hercules ROV captured this image of what scientists think is an anglerfish during dives from NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer in Indonesia. Scientists are working to further identify this creature and many others they encountered this …

The Gulf’s deepwater corals

The New York Times has an excellent article today discussing state of science and research about deepwater corals in the Gulf of Mexico. As we've blogged, the site of the BP oil disaster has been explored and mapped to some degree by NOAA - some of it funded by the Minerals Management Service. During last …

Life in the Gulf’s Mississippi Canyon

Oil from the Deepwater Horizon's well is spewing 5,000 gallons of oil a day into the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico's Mississippi Canyon. Engineers try to build a dome over the gusher, while others work on digging a "relief" well nearby in a bid to stop the flow. Today we revisit some of …