The ocean’s surface harbors an ecosystem of colorful, understudied life, ranging from protists and cnidarians to insects.

The sea surface is home to a diverse group of animals adapted to life in the open ocean, but increasingly, they’re sharing that space with plastic debris.

A modeling study estimates that by drastically reducing fish biomass over the past century, industrial fishing may be affecting ocean chemistry, nutrient fluxes, and carbon cycling as much as climate change.

Researchers use proxy indicators to confirm long-term changes to the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, which have profound implications for future climate in North America and Europe.

Blue sharks don't dive as deeply in low-oxygen waters—which become more prevalent as oceans warm—effectively pushing them into areas of high fishing pressure.

The discovery puts a nail in the coffin of a long-held assumption about the limits of where the essential process can occur.

Marine ecologist Jeroen Ingels discusses what is known about ice shelf loss at the southern pole and how those changes are affecting local ecosystems.

Unable to travel to international or remote sites, some researchers are losing critical data.

Jellyfish fitted with energy efficient controllers could one day find a job on ocean explorations.

The movements of water within the ocean basins has been increasing in speed over the last 20 years, a new study shows, conflicting with prior models of climate change.

Biological production of this greenhouse gas, once thought to be the reserve of anaerobic microbes, occurs in these widespread, photosynthesizing cyanobacteria.

Microbes that dwell in nutrient-poor waters use a photopigment called retinal to harvest energy from sunshine at levels at least equal to those stored by chlorophyll-based systems.

Birds drifting on the surface of the sea could provide valuable data for oceanographers.

The Challenger expedition's data on ocean temperatures and currents, seawater chemistry, life in the deep sea, and the geology of the seafloor spurred the rise of modern oceanography.

Scientists bring marine plankton back to life to study past climate change.

Former NOAA administrator and environmental scientist Jane Lunchenco discusses the importance of science in the face of climate change.

Data collected by elephant seals in Antarctic waters provide a closer look at the processes driving ocean circulation.

Irish researchers convert seals into remote oceanographic sensors by attaching tags containing temperature probes and other technologies to their heads.

Researchers are struggling to understand shifts in the migratory patterns of penguins in the Southwest Atlantic.