Even as mercury levels in the air and water go down, levels of the neurotoxin have gone up in certain fish.
A red tide is a dangerous overgrowth of microscopic marine plants known as algae. The overgrowth — there can be millions of algae per gallon of seawater — can turn coastal waters bright red and release toxins that harm marine life, birds and humans. Red tides can cause breathing problems in beachgoers, and people can be poisoned by eating fish and shellfish taken from affected waters.
Scientists discover the world's biggest seaweed patch. They say it could be the 'new normal.'
With help from a pair of NASA satellites, scientists have identified what’s being called the biggest patch of seaweed ever seen. The vast mat of brown Sargassum algae extends all the way across the Atlantic Ocean — a distance of about 5,500 miles — and the researchers say the so-called bloom may represent the “new normal” for parts of the Atlantic.
A new survey of sea life in the Pacific Ocean suggests that some endangered sea turtles are making a comeback.
The survey showed that populations of green sea turtles along dozens of coral reefs in waters around Hawaii and other nearby regions either remained stable or increased from 2002 to 2015.
Warmer and more acidic oceans will cause populations of phytoplankton to decline, which could affect the water's hue and impact nearly every kind of fish that we eat.
The world’s oceans are warming and growing more acidic as a result of climate change, and a provocative new study suggests they’ll be changing color too.
Within a few decades, the study showed, regions of the ocean that now look blue will look bluer. By 2100, the color shift could affect more than 50 percent of the oceans’ collective 140 million square miles of surface area.
Scientists have discovered an enormous void under an Antarctic glacier, sparking concern that the ice sheet is melting faster than anyone had realized — and spotlighting the dire threat posed by rising seas to coastal cities around the world, including New York City and Miami.
The cavity under Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica is about six miles long and 1,000 feet deep — representing the loss of 14 billion tons of ice.
The images will stop you in your tracks — a woman in a wet suit and with a camera swimming side by side with a 20 foot great white shark.
Ocean Ramsey, the marine biologist in Hawaii who swam with the great white shark, said Friday on "Today" that she had no reason to be nervous. Ramsey said sharks like the 8 foot wide one she swam next to on Tuesday, “swim past surfers, swimmers, and divers all day every day.”
Researchers recently made a startling discovery — a stray plastic bag 35,775 feet beneath the ocean’s surface.
While near-shore pollution and mid-ocean trash fields have been well documented, the researchers say less has been reported about the impact humans have had in the deep sea.
They cataloged 3,425 cans, bits of plastic and stray fishing gear. Many communities have begun to outlaw some of these so-called “single-use” products, such as plastic bags and containers.
Much of the waste in floating trash fields is too small to be seen, but pervasive and toxic enough to do widespread damage to sea life. The new findings should renew concern about threats to the world’s oceans, experts say.
Ryo Minemizu's images capture in meticulous detail the startling beauty of the tiny living things that drift in our planet's oceans. See more here.
(Photo: Great Barrier Reef / AFP - Getty Images file)
Calling it the most extensive review of how coral on Australia's Great Barrier Reef is faring, scientists on Monday reported some alarming news: The amount of coral covering reefs there has been cut in half since 1985 and will likely continue to decline unless steps are taken to at least attack the easiest of several factors.
Source: worldnews.nbcnews.com
British-Australian swimmer Penny Palfrey smiles as she is flashed a thumbs up at the start of her bid to complete a record swim from Cuba to Florida, in Havana, Cuba, on June 29. Palfrey aims to be the first woman to swim the Straits of Florida without the aid of a shark cage. Instead she's relying on equipment that surrounds her with an electrical field to deter the predators.
Source: MSN