US United States


Analysis and Comment (11)


Pacific Remote Islands protection not just a drop in the ocean

Bet you wouldn’t find this on Mars. EPA

Just how little do we know about the ocean floor?

As ships resume the search for missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 in the depths of the Indian Ocean this week, we often hear that the oceans are “95% unexplored” and that we know more about the surface…
Diseases can devastate coral reefs. Jorge H. Pinzón C.

Older coral species are hardier than newer ones

The AAL Fremantle, borne along by a meteotsunami, hits the rail bridge next to Fremantle Harbour. ‏@Mattiegeesu via Twitter

Explainer: how weather can trigger dangerous tsunamis

At around 10pm on Sunday 17 August 2014, the container ship AAL Fremantle was being unloaded after arriving in Western Australia’s Fremantle Harbour, when it broke away from its mooring and collided with…
So little is known about what lies beneath the surface of the Indian Ocean. AAP/ Richard Wainwright

What is it really like under the Indian Ocean?

Not long after the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was declared missing, the world’s attention was focused on a remote, poorly known area of the Eastern Indian Ocean as the possible location of the lost…
A 2.6 m tiger shark entangled in a WA drum line. It was officially released alive - whether it survived is another matter. Neil Henderson/supplied

WA’s shark cull didn’t answer the big ocean safety questions

As Western Australia’s Environmental Protection Authority and the federal environment minister Greg Hunt mull the question of whether to let the state government resume its controversial shark cull next…
There is no evidence that hunting and killing sharks reduces attacks on humans. US Fish and Wildlife Service

Who’s hunting who? Misguided responses to shark attacks

The most recent fatal encounter between a shark and a surfer off the coast of Western Australia is a tragic loss of human life. It prompted a Western Australian government reaction to “hunt and kill” the…
Little penguins are among a number of species that are threatened by climate change. AAP/Rick Stevens

Ocean winners and losers revealed in Marine Report Card

Fish are on the move in Australia’s waters. In southern Australia, scientists, commercial and recreational fishers, divers and beach-goers are reporting the presence of new species. The movement of species…
Another wave is coming: the coral-killing crown of thorns starfish. Flickr/<SLIM>

Great Barrier Reef dying beneath its crown of thorns

The Great Barrier Reef is under attack from a range of enemies including climate change effects (coral bleaching, increased severe storms, and ocean acidification), pollutant discharge from the land, coastal…

Research and News (1)

Research Briefs (22)

Baby turtles confirmed to swim, not drift

Baby loggerhead turtles have been confirmed to actively swim, rather than drift, into ocean currents. National Oceanic and…

New clues to deep Earth water cycle

Rocks from xenoliths in the Philippines carrying deep water samples have provided new insight into the water cycle of the…