Ocean Stories
Anthropocene brings some of the best minds to bear on tough questions about the future of the Earth’s largest ecosystems: Should nations farm their EEZs—and how can they do it ecologically? Are there economically viable ways to harvest plastic waste? Can we cultivate acid- and heat-resilient coral reefs?
Eyes on the High Seas
Illegal fishing is getting harder, thanks to public surveillance from space
Which countries are the wealthiest, when blue carbon is the currency?
Researchers calculated that mangroves, salt marshes and seagrass meadows store roughly the equivalent of the annual carbon emissions of France—with an estimated value of $190 billion per year.
Researchers connect the dots between aquatic biodiversity and human nutrition
That more diverse an aquatic area, the more nutrients make it to our plates
There’s a massive multi-billion dollar ecosystem just beneath the waves
Until now, there have been no thorough estimates of the value of kelp forests. When researchers recently tallied it up, the figured they came up with was $500 billion a year.
How many fish are in the sea?
Researchers are getting closer to an answer—and improved management—by identifying the DNA traces that fish leave behind in seawater
A baby sea turtle’s mad dash for the sea is perilous. A fake egg could make it safer.
A team of scientists dubbed “Nerds Without Borders” developed a sensor—disguised as a turtle egg—to predict when hatchlings head for the sea.
What’s the Carbon Catch?
Most seafood is more climate-friendly than its terrestrial counterparts. But the latest controversies run deeper than simply wild-caught vs farmed.
Taming the Blue Frontier
Should the U.S. cultivate giant offshore fish farms in its piece of the sea or keep taking most of the fish we eat from foreign waters?
Is plastic trash in the middle of the ocean becoming a new kind of island habitat?
Giant patches of plastic floating in the ocean have become home to an experiment in a new hybrid ecosystem, made up of stowaway species from coastal environments and organisms that dwell in the middle of the Pacific. Meet the "neopelagic" world.
On the hunt for heat-tolerant genes, coral farmers discover there is no “super coral.”
In reef restoration, as in the stock market, scientists find that a diverse and flexible portfolio is the best way to hedge ones bets in a changing world.
