Marine protected areas, set up to conserve marine ecosystems and species, accumulate pollutants swept in from mainland shores by ocean currents.
marine debris
Posted inNews
Plastic Waste Knows No Bounds
Despite the vastness of Earth’s oceans, human plastic pollution overwhelms even remote corners.
Posted inNews
Mounting Litter Spotted on Arctic Seafloor
At one location near Greenland, the density of undersea trash leaped by a factor of 23 in a decade.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Oil Residues Accelerate Coastal Wetland Losses
Coastal wetland loss after an oil spill can be more extensive than after a hurricane.
Posted inScience Updates
Developing a Remote Sensing System to Track Marine Debris
Workshop on Mission Concepts for Marine Debris Sensing; Honolulu, Hawaii, 19–21 January 2016
Posted inFeatures
Sargassum Watch Warns of Incoming Seaweed
The Sargassum Watch System processes satellite data and feeds results to a Web portal, giving decision makers timely information on seaweed location and warnings for potential beaching events.
Posted inNews
Deepwater Horizon Oil Lingered and Sank, Stuck to "Marine Snow"
A new study may explain how supposedly buoyant oil from the huge 2010 oil spill coated corals and other organisms on the ocean floor.
Posted inNews
Oil Dispersants Deadly to a Common Estuary Species
Research on two dispersants used to break up spilled oil suggests that the chemicals can kill or harm a widely–found shrimp important to estuary habitats. The toxicity increases in less salty water.
Posted inNews
Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone Largest Since 2002
Downpours in June drove nutrients into the Mississippi River that ultimately deprived a much larger portion of the Gulf of oxygen than had been expected.
Posted inNews
Connecticut-Sized Dead Zone Expected in Gulf of Mexico
An ensemble of four computer models evaluated river runoff, wind patterns, and other factors affecting the extent of oxygen-poor waters near the Mississippi River's mouth.