Can “snow” fall in the ocean and influence the climate of the entire planet? It turns out that it can. Research conducted by scientists from the Faculty of Physics at University of Warsaw, published in Journal of Fluid Mechanics, helps us understand how microscopic “flakes” of dead organic matter collide and sink into the deep ocean, transporting vast amounts of carbon and affecting the pace of global warming.

An international team of scientists has discovered that methane hydrates beneath the northwest Greenland continental shelf became rapidly destabilised by meltwater, releasing large stores of methane during ice-sheet retreat across the continental shelf.

A widely used method for measuring how well streams absorb excess nutrients has a hidden flaw: it systematically overestimates uptake length under high-nutrient conditions. Researchers at Duke Kunshan University have derived a corrected zero-order analytical approach that better captures stream nutrient processing when nutrients are abundant, improving the accuracy of tools used to assess river health and guide restoration decisions.

A group of researchers in the UK have shown how the distributions of Pseudo-nitzschia and Dinophysis - two phytoplankton groups known to produce natural toxins that can halt shellfish harvesting – have changed in the North East Atlantic over the last six decades. The research was led by scientists from the University of Plymouth and the Marine Directorate of the Scottish Government, in conjunction with Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML), the Marine Biological Association (MBA), and the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS).

We don’t have time to count every fish in the ocean! Environmental DNA or eDNA allows us to see where fish live by analyzing DNA in seawater – such as from shed scales or skin. This Japan-wide eDNA survey conducted by the Advanced Institute for Marine Ecosystem Change (WPI-AIMEC), Tohoku University & JAMSTEC, revealed hidden factors of the ecological niches that affect shifts in fish distributions. 

The life story of the critically endangered Rice's whale, estimated to have just 50 remaining adults, is evidenced in new analysis of the hormones it stores in its baleen throughout its life

In a new study, University of Washington scientists eavesdropped on Cook Inlet belugas to better understand the context of their calls and how human noise is impacting their ability to communicate with each other.

How do fish survive relentless sunlight in the open waters without getting burned? They make their own natural sunscreen—and now, humans could be one step closer to using it too.

Reporting in the Cell Press journal Trends in Biotechnology, researchers engineered microbial “cell factories” to sustainably produce the UV-protective compound gadusol, which could eventually serve as a sunscreen ingredient and an antioxidant additive. 

A study led by Qiujie “Angie” Zheng from the University of Maine found that consumers are willing to pay an average of $3.42 more for a lobster roll made with lobster harvested using ropeless fishing technology designed to reduce whale entanglement risks when presented with information on animal welfare. Researchers tested how information about whale conservation, animal welfare and Maine’s lobster industry shaped consumer willingness to pay more for lobster harvested using ropeless technology. Messaging focused on whale welfare and entanglement impacts proved most effective at increasing support for ropeless technology, with consumers willing to pay more.

A new study by University of Victoria and Pacific Salmon Foundation scientists has uncovered what adult Chinook salmon in the Salish Sea are eating—and revealed diet can differ according to region.